Fast Fashion - what's the fix?

Women in Islington are learning new skills and making new connections at sewing courses put on by Arachne Greek Cypriot Women’s Group (Arachne).  

Textile waste is a huge concern globally with Ghana and the Atacama Desert in Chile now playing host to mountains of discarded clothes.  

In fact, when you type ‘Atacama Desert Chile’ into Google the first autofill response is ‘clothing dump’. In the UK, 7kg of fashion waste per person is sent to landfill yearly. This is a shocking statistic and highlights the need for organisations such as Arachne who are empowering residents to lengthen the life of their clothes through repair and upcycling.  

One resident and workshop attendee, Louise, neatly summed up the current state of fast fashion and textiles waste in the UK: “It can feel a bit intimidating, we’re so used to being able to do things quickly on computers. Everything is so instant. Acquiring a skill does take a little time and perseverance.” 

Time and perseverance paid off for Louise who was able to get a coat of sentimental value repaired at the workshop therefore prolonging its life and preventing waste.  

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The workshop leader, Alberta, said: “the great thing about it is we use waste fabric...last week an attendee brought in her old duvet cover, she cut her blouse, she shared it with the other ladies and we all got to use this duvet cover!”  

This is a creative example of upcycling which demonstrates that, with the right knowledge, we can all learn to give our textiles a second life.  

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