Studies show that buying stuff doesn’t make us happy. So why does the whole world seem to go crazy when there’s a sale? And in the run-up to Christmas, shopping habits and overconsumption reach new levels of excess. With Black Friday just around the corner, we caught up with Christina Dean, Founder & CEO of The R Collective, and Founder & Chair of Redress (she’s also a Green Warrior, don’t cha know) to lift the lid on the dirty side of the fashion industry. Here she shares some startling fast fashion facts, what she’s doing to close the loop on clothing, and why we should all be saying no to Black Friday.
“November has truly become a global celebration of consumption, but the slow fashion movement is quickly fighting back, saying no to the sales, no to cheap disposable pieces and heralding an ethical future of fashion. Whereas fashion sales and ‘in with the new’ used to be September, it’s now all about November as the world becomes awash with seemingly limitless online sales and shopping spree bonanzas, from Singles Day to Black Friday.
Last year, Singles Day, on 11/11, saw sales hit a terrifying new record high of US$30.8 billion in just one day, with the business’s online shopping spree becoming an event in itself – with performances and entertainment galore to encourage and celebrate rapid-fire (and dare we say it?!) often reckless purchases. Meanwhile, in the US, sales on Black Friday also reached new highs of US$6.22 billion in online sales in one day, marking a greedy 24% jump in sales from the previous year.
But is all this seemingly endless consumption really needed?
We’re currently already making around 100 billion new garments every year – of which it’s estimated that 73% of which will end up in landfill or incineration³. Faced with this harsh reality of how quickly we routinely discard our clothes, these global mega-discount sales that drive up consumption must be put under ethical scrutiny.
Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries. During our current global climate crisis, now more than ever, we need to slow down consumption and consider how our closet and styling choices impact the world we live in.
The R Collective is hard at work creating sustainable fashion using rescued textile waste sourced from world-leading luxury brands, mills and manufacturers and we collaborate with award-winning sustainable designers from around the world to create unique upcycled collections. The United Nation’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal – Responsible Consumption and Production – is at the core of our brand ethos. The R Collective’s clothes are produced ethically and responsibly, offering timeless designs that are guaranteed to last for many seasons to come.
We know that buying new clothes is never going to go entirely out of fashion, so if you do need to replace an essential item, take part in our very own No Sale Black Friday. Visit thercollective.com from Nov 26 until Dec 2 where 25% of all sales will go to charity Redress, who continue to reduce waste and drive sustainability in the fashion industry.”