Focus on sustainable fashion paves way for re-loving clothes

TWO enterprising businesswomen in the town decided to host the first ever Wellington Sustainable Fashion week and shine a spotlight on recycling, up-cycling and re-purposing of clothing.

Joanna Zalewska and Rachael Millington from Re:Style Wellington spotted an opportunity to promote the annual national campaign in the town, deciding that Wellington needed to take a lead as a hub of sustainable fashion.

Rachael said: “Jo and I have been running clothes swaps since 2023 at Pure Yoga in Tonedale and these have really flourished.

“The idea was to build on that and offer some other tools to help people to enjoy garments for as long as possible.”

The week brought together creative minds from across the community including local makers, services and businesses who are already working to help us get the most out of our clothes.

All together they were able to use their skills to offer people low-cost opportunities making sustainable fashion accessible to all.

Rachael explained: "As a local business owner working with pre-loved fashion I have seen demand for this side of our business grow dramatically in recent years.

“I think there are several factors involved in choosing second-hand first, including saving money due to rising costs; finding ourselves, for various reasons with many garments in our wardrobes that we don’t wear, as well as a growing awareness of the damage that the ‘fast fashion’ rate of production can cause.”

Rachael says that the term ‘slow fashion’ is an antidote to that and that people are now searching out ways to shop mindfully, thinking about how the garment has been made and choosing for quality in a similar way to how we might shop for good food.

She advocates choosing classic and well-made garments that will last and will continue to be loved adding: “We aim to keep pieces in use and circulation for as long as possible, whether that be through repairing, up-cycling, customising, swapping or reselling.”

Workshops held during the first Sustainable Fashion Week in September were packed with ideas of how to add value to items including styling sessions, customising clothing, as well as their regular clothes swaps - all with the aim of making the most of our fashion.

The sessions received lots of positive feedback, Rachael says, with participants particularly commenting on how relaxing it is to just sit and stitch together.

She said: “We have loved hearing about personal up-cycling projects currently on the go, from costume making, to visible mending to customised sweatshirts.

“We’ve also had some laughter as some of us have tried to master trickier new skills, all with a supportive facilitator offering a helping hand where needed.”

The pair have two more events planned to encourage locals to get on board with the slow fashion concept with a clothing repair drop-In service at Olive and Rosy on Saturday, November 14 from 11 am to 2 pm and a Winter Clothes Swap at Pure Yoga in Tonedale on November 21.

Rachael added: “We hope the word will spread further as we would like to make Sustainable Fashion Week an annual event.”