One nonprofit is on a crusade to pump the brakes on fashion consumption.
Slow Fashion Season, a crowdacting campaign by Netherlands-based CollAction, is calling on individuals and businesses to vow to make more conscious fashion choices for a period of three months.
From June 21-Sept. 21, companies and individuals that sign on as Slow Fashion Season partners agree not to purchase any new clothes that are not from sustainable brands. Participants, however, are encouraged to swap or trade clothes, upcycle and buy secondhand pieces.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, CollAction made one major adjustment to the campaign. In an effort to support businesses struggling due to store closures and fewer sales, participants this year can purchase from sustainable brands.
CollAction’s goals for the crowdacting campaign include taking collective action in favor of sustainable fashion, highlighting alternative fashion and pressuring policy makers to reduce the negative impact of fast fashion. The mission reflects what many leaders in the denim industry hope is the COVID-19 pandemic’s silver lining—greater consumer awareness of where their clothes come from, and a return to valuing better-made garments over inexpensive fast fashion.
Slow Fashion Season partners are encouraged to not just follow through on their commitment to making conscious fashion purchases, but also promote and co-organize events, join advocacy efforts and make financial contributions to the campaign if possible.
Slow Fashion Season launched in 2018 and garnered 2,625 partners who agreed not to make any fashion purchases for three months. By 2019, the number increased to 14,487 across 120 countries. This year, the organization aims to get at least 25,000 partners.
