Many students all across the UK take pleasure in frequent high-street hauls, seeing them as a necessary antidote to the pain and stress that comes from degrees, deadlines and academic disasters. The ability to easily go shopping and purchase clothes is reassuring and provides, for many, the dose of dopamine necessary to return to the labouring research on Socrates, geology, Ulysses or whatever topic that may be thrown at you. Admittedly, in our day and age it is freakishly easy to just tap our credit card onto the glowing card machine with absolutely no recollection for what, where or how our purchases came about.
However, as recent events have shone light on, the climate threat is becoming severe; the way we treat and use our planet’s resources needs to be put under question and with this, comes the rethinking of fashion as an industry. Many Students are engaging with these issues and getting involved through events and activities, acting as a force for positive change. Co-president, geography student and fellow fashion fanatic Emily Brooks gave up a few moments to discuss the direction of fashion as an industry. Find her insightful thoughts below:
Introduce yourself and your role
My name is Emily, I am with Miranda as a co-president of fashion society. We share lots of responsibilities as presidents such as organising events, risk assessments, bookings, management of collaborations and sponsorships. For example, if any of our members or community want to run workshops we arrange and monitor that! Individually, I also help run the social media channels and magazine; social media is a huge part of my role - we constantly have messages from businesses and members which is very exciting (but also a very big Job)! Social media management is a huge role especially since the society has grown stupidly in the last month!
How would you define your personal style?
That's really tricky because I feel like it's always changing. At the moment I’m definitely going more with the very minimalist, Parisian style which I’ve always kind of been into. It's less of a personal style choice and more of an ethical choice. I've been really into simplifying everything and minimising everything down to just the key things I need - which is really nice because it allows me to be more inventive with what I wear and makes me think of new combinations. I just discovered that I don’t need all the things I have and it can go to better homes and I just feel better when I’m decluttered!
How do you think the fashion industry is changing?
That's a tricky question .. I think you could definitely argue that it is going two ways at the moment. I think ,especially within our generation, it is either going towards a very unsustainable way or a very sustainable way and then there is kind of a route down the middle. Following the pandemic, online shopping and consumerism has increased. Everyone has gone to this ‘back to normal approach’ which ,in a kind of bad way, is not what we want because it resorts back to those unsustainable behaviours of fast fashion and fast buying - everyone is going out now so everyone needs a whole new wardrobe and it is super unsustainable.
But then at the same time, what is really nice to see is a lot of young people getting more involved with slow fashion. So not just buying things from charity shops and things that look second hand, but actually digging into the ethicality of it and what it actually means to be sustainable within the fashion industry. Young people are really beginning to tackle the mindset of consumerism and the idea that we need lots and lots of stuff to be happy when we really don’t. People are looking into clothes swaps and buying from sustainable brands which, whilst it is true that the individual items may be slightly higher prices, provide pieces that will last years in your wardrobe. That makes me really excited.
Young people are really beginning to tackle the mindset of consumerism
Yes, I think It is also about not becoming the most sustainable person in the world straight away, it is about adding small changes into your daily activities over time. It is a process.
You can’t make a lifestyle change over night, it is about just doing small bits daily. I think, within that, a lot of people promote that massively sustainable lifestyle but it is true that a lot of sustainable brands are extremely expensive and people do have to understand that is not accessible to everyone. It is allowing people to gradually transition into a more sustainable way of living and giving them the space and opportunity to educate themselves on how to shop sustainable within a budget because it is possible and can be done - going to clothes shops, learning how to upcycle and repair your own clothes are all things that can be done to a low budget. It is unrealistic to think people can switch overnight and start buying all their clothes from sustainable brands, we have to take into account people's individual circumstances. I think the role of fashion society is to educate people on that change and make it a process which is easier and attainable.
I think the role of fashion society is to educate people on that change and make it a process which is easier and attainable.
What do you think it will look like in 10 years time? Do you think that the consumption of fast fashion will be reduced or do you think - because it is cheap - it will still remain an option for young people?
I would really like to think that it would be directed towards slow fashion; I would like to think slow fashion would become a trend - trend is the wrong word because that depicts the sense that it is going to go away again but I want it to become more in the mainstream than it is at the moment. And, like you said, transformative change within a society or a person doesn't happen overnight, it takes years for it to happen.
I think the industry is changing; no matter what happens we are getting to a point ecologically and socially where change has to happen. It is not just climate change that the fashion industry impacts, it is rooted in capitalism which is rooted in inequalities and racism, it is rooted in colonialism and we are getting to a point ( that Covid 19 definitely demonstrated) where we can't really keep going along the path we are going on at the moment, it is becoming more and more urgent every year. I think at some point humanity is going to have no choice but to scale back fast fashion.
Fast fashion is a key contributor to climate change, along with the main contributors deforestation and the use of fossil fuels. Fast fashion is going to have to be the first one to go and I think people are just going to have to adapt to that.
What ways do you think sustainable fashion will change or evolve? Have you ever thought about the concept of renting clothes for example?
Yes definitely, I was very privileged to go to Sanchos first swap shop; it was amazing because, whilst clothes swaps have been around for a long time, they haven't been something that has gotten into the mainstream or something that is accessible to everyone. These swap shops are the perfect example of slow fashion. I think slow fashion is the direction sustainable fashion as an industry is going in - the slow fashion, lower consumer mindset.
In terms of clothes rentals, I have seen a lot of celebrities on instagram promoting these services for example, I think Grace Beverly promotes a company that you can rent bags from and Amber Driscoll regularly promotes renting clothes as an option for finding new pieces.
I think that change is both a fast route and top down process at the same time. People can do stuff at a local level and share at a local level but there also needs to be some accountability from these celebrities and influencers with these huge social media platforms, along with government and people in high positions, to catalyse change.
I think that change is both a fast route and top down process at the same time.
Do you have any recommendations of brands that have an appealing ethos rooted in sustainability?
Obviously I would definitely have to say Sanchos. Another great shop is NAKD fashion, they are really great and not massively overpriced. They sell the staple wardrobe pieces that you will have in your wardrobe for years to come.
Another recommendation that I have is don't just look at brands that are “sustainable”, support brands that are owned by black and indigenous people. By doing so, we can tackle the inequalities and racism that continue to manifest themselves in the fashion industry. That is really important. I think supporting local brands is also very important.
Have you got any other thoughts about sustainable fashion, any advice to people who are maybe new to charity shopping and shopping slow?
I think we have to remember that slow fashion and shopping second hand is comparable to a form of slow activism, and with any type of lifestyle change or activism in general it is very easy to get burnt out - sometimes it is very easy to just throw yourself into the deep end and then, as a result of this, become overwhelmed with this change. Whilst it would be amazing for a person to instantly change all of their behaviours to sustainable options, this is unrealistic in real life. The enthusiasm and commitment to all of these sustainable behaviours are likely to drop after a few months. It is important for people to take baby steps and just make the changes they are comfortable with; transformative change is vital, but it is only going to work if people maintain it long term. It is like attending a protest - your work isn't done after that day ends.
Emily Brooks, along with Miranda Hanham, are the forces behind Exeter Fashion society's recent expansion and are leading the way for more students to get involved with the fashion society - a place to enjoy fashion with others, as well as educate yourself on more sustainable options available. We cannot wait to see what the society has on offer this year.
Interview by Anabel Sophie Judd
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