Join The Movement & Embrace Patchwork
The trend for recycled fabric - Have we reached 'peak stuff'?
First, how come the eco-trend has got so strong? Some say we've reached a state of 'peak stuff' in the wealthy western world. That means we've bought everything we need, and we've realised we don't actually need to buy anything else. You can only have so many TVs, items of furniture, toys, clothes, accessories, you name it. It's a fascinating theory, described by Investopedia like this:
“Peak stuff refers to the idea that a certain product has reached top interest and market penetration and cannot go any higher.”
And as The Guardian said some time ago:
“Around the developed world consumers seem to be losing their appetite for more. Even goods for which there once seemed insatiable demand seem to be losing their lustre. Last week, mighty Apple reported that in the last three months of 2015 global sales of the iPhone stagnated, while sales of iPads tumbled from 21m units in 2014 to 16m in the same three months of 2015. In the more prosaic parts of the economy – from cars to home furnishings – there are other warnings that demand is saturated.”
Environmental and social responsibility
There's more than peak stuff going on, though. It's also an environmental and social responsibility thing. More and more of us are realising that the endless consumer conveyor belt our society has been stuck on since the Industrial Revolution isn't making us happy. Nor is it good for the environment, creating awesome amounts of waste as well as maintaining a system that just isn't fair, with some countries starving and others absolutely rolling in money and resources.
At the same time it's an aesthetic thing: why waste beautiful fabrics when you can re-use them and fall in love all over again?
The scrap material up-cycling and recycling revolution
You might have noticed that our website is full of gorgeous clothing that's either embroidered, patchworked, appliquéd, tie dyed, razored, painted, beaded, sequinned or generally decorated. If our clothing looks eco-friendly, that's because most of it actually is. And it isn't just a sales trick. We're based in Brighton, one of the nation's greenest cities. We genuinely care about our world, and the clothing we sell reflects our passion.
Trawl through our online shop and you'll find the suppliers we use – many of which are based in Nepal - are great recyclers, re-purposers and up-cyclers. They use recycled silk, cotton, leather and more in the clothes and accessories they make for us. They piece wonderful garments together with love and attention to detail, using fabrics that would otherwise be discarded, only adding to the world's growing levels of needless waste.
We think our collections of lush, exotic patchwork stuff and appliqué are gorgeous. So do our customers. If you want to support the growing trend for anti-waste, it's a great start. Maybe you'll even be inspired to start re-using old fabrics yourself, embellishing your own clothes and transforming them into something exotic, exciting and new.
Show us your own up-cycled fabric masterpieces
Maybe you're already doing it? If so we'd love to see some photos of your stuff. In the meantime, happy shopping. We hope you love our recycled clothes as much as we do.
