by Clara Planas
Last weekend, Barcelona held the first edition of Re-Barcelona, the first global meeting of sustainable fashion. Moda Sostenible de Barcelona promoted a series of days of debate and reflection where professionals could share experiences and knowledge about the different visions they have with the best national and international experts. And to know their questions about the sustainable and ethical future.
At B·COME we always ask ourselves how the new generations are approaching the future of fashion and last weekend, we had the opportunity to attend Re-Barcelona to inspire us and soak up these new trends that are emerging. Ellen MacArthur Foundation, spoke to us about Circular Economy in the fashion sector introducing different current initiatives to address circularity in the industry. Clothes rental, second-hand clothing, giving another life to stocks and the generation of monomaterial products are some of them:
Clothes rental
Would it be too much to dream of having everything without generating waste? It seems impossible, but there are different platforms that have already started to introduce this concept as their core business. Rent the runway is an online service for renting designer clothes and jewellery, with which more than 8 million users in the UK have already obtained. Or, for example, Y Closet another rental platform based in Beijing that distributes women's clothing and accessories for a monthly fee of 65 € / month. H&M, has also decided to try this new initiative. The project will allow buyers to rent clothes and return them within a certain period of time. The company is testing its first clothing rental service in its Stockholm store. This seems to be one of the possible futures of clothing, with a large group of investors betting on this game of virtual closets.
Second-hand clothing
The growing climate awareness has increased and is generating a boom of shops, apps or platforms that bet on Zero Waste. Urban Outfitters has opened a Vintage section called Urban Renewal. Since the 1970s, UO has been taking care of and searching around the world for vintage items. Today, you can find these unique items and their original vintage collections on their website or in some UO stores. The real real an American platform, also specializing in the sale of second-hand luxury products. From fashion for women, men and children to fine jewelry, watches, art and home decor. Or Depop, an Italian application for buying and selling clothing and accessories that was created in 2011 in Milan and that the Z generation has popularized globally with more than 10 million users. More and more proposals that emerged in the paper and that bet on the reduction of consumerism.
Giving another life to clothes
It is true that the advance of the commitment to sustainability and the fast growth of responsible consumption has motivated the growth of the circular economy incorporating new habits such as recycling, reusing or reusing clothes. The renewal Workshop, a factory that cleans, repairs and classifies the surplus stocks of major brands and then advertises its renewed clothing with a discount (about 30%) and is sent directly from The renewal Workshop to the buyer.
Monomaterial Products
The easy recycling process of monomaterial products has led to a positive change in the management of this material. And that many brands have joined the current trend to use a single type of raw material by reference. The development of these products has gradually become a habit in major brands such as Adidas, Napapijri, Re/done, Atelier & Repairs that are now implementing it.
Thanks to these clear examples discovered by the Ellen Mc Arthur Foundation, we can become aware and transform both consumers and professionals to start making more responsible habits and make us see that there are already tools that are committed to sustainability.