Fashion Editor Polly Rogers reports on UCD’s Slow Fashion Show, the designs and their meanings, the work of guest speaker Mariana Silva and the knowledge of the flaws of the fashion industry and their environmental impact.
On the 3rd of March, a collection of environmentally conscious collaborators came together with cohesion to create the UCD Slow Fashion Show. An evening of energy was presented by members of University College Dublin's Sustainability Society in collaboration with the UCD Fair Fashion Collective, UCD Circular and the Innovation Academy, where the event was held. While the classroom environment was certainly unexpected as a location for a catwalk, the creators and models strutted through with ease showcasing their designs and styles to the panel of judges and room of spectators.
The designs of the evening were all centered around different SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). These plans are curated by the United Nations and each individual goal is an installment that will potentially be implemented worldwide, with hopes for completion by the year 2030. There are 17 in total, ranging from goals centering on the rectification of poverty and hunger in developing countries, to societal issues such as gender equality and education for all. Other goals are focused on environmental factors looking into sea and land life, clean water and affordable energy. The show centers around the circular use of garments and textile, all being preloved materials, The UCD Slow Fashion Show enlightened and educated on the issues of overconsumption and the environmental impact of industrial production due to this industry.
“The UCD Slow Fashion Show enlightened and educated on the issues of overconsumption and the environmental impact of industrial production due to this industry.”
The show itself featured 8 different outfits modelled by the designers and participants. The creativity woven into these outfits was intricate yet explicit. A look inspired by SDG 14, Life Below Water, was created and sewn from tideline finds. Washed up rope and fishing nets were scattered with shells and seaweed was dried and sewn together to create fabric panels for a bralette. An amalgamation of beach litter and naturally occurring materials, it was styled with platform boots and microshorts as a base. Hair was slicked and swirled, as if freshly dunked beneath the salty waves, a punky look overall. SDG 4 - Quality Education, allowing all to have the opportunity to learn was showcased through a fabulous tartan 2-piece - it was styled to be reminiscent of a school kilt, and the designer even used her own secondary school shoes and books to accessorise. A masquerade was used with flourish to highlight the enlightenment education allows, an unmasking of knowledge.
Meanwhile, SDG 15 - the protection and sustainability of Life On Land - was told through the connection between the designer and the land where she was raised, using wool locally sourced from her county, she learnt to crochet to create a detailed black top that she styled with a preloved mossy maxi skirt, which added to the ethereal feel of this celtic garment. The look was finished with an old pair of Irish dancing shoes - the sentiment of the black leather and looping laces connected this design to life on land. SDG 5 - Gender Equality, was addressed through a take on if women “wore the pants” in history. A suit was tailored and feminised, adding touches of lace and detailing with an extra panel in the ankle to create flare, as well as making the garments more shapely overall to accentuate feminine curvature. The accessories of the hat and gloves with the beautifully detailed hair and make up allowed for a babydoll feel to this empowering design, which was topped off with a trick bubble cigarette, as cigarettes were a sign of feminism and rebellion to societal norms.
Other pieces included dresses sewn from materials such as bin bags, shopping bags, and bed sheets to create beautiful dresses that were worthy of wear from these reused textiles to present how one person's trash is another person's treasure. Another SDG 15 was inspired by pure wool garments, highlighting the possibility of the garments being compostable should they be placed in the ground or a landfill, unlike polyester and other synthetic materials used in many of our everyday outfits.
In between acts, guest speaker Mariana Silva, a researcher, writer and fashion sustainability specialist was interviewed on her work. She explained how her research focuses on the excessive volumes of industrial production caused by the fashion industry, and the amount of textile waste that is a direct consequence of over consumption. Her goal is to work with those who physically churn out production, the factory workers. Focusing on how to create change from the driving forces within the production process, she recognises how limiting production volumes greatly reduces workers and jobs but comments that there is a way for the fashion industry to clothe our world without punishing the environment.
The estimates of pieces produced annually prior to 2018 was around 100 billion garments, for a planet whose population is only 8 billion. This ludicrous number is the cause of over 92 million tonnes of textile waste per anum, and this was recorded before fast fashion sites such as Shein or Temu loomed large. Currently textiles have an estimated 0.03% circularity rate - recycling alone is simply not enough to fix this issue. Creativity within fashion is only possible through the production of a slow fashion system - large corporations such as Zara and Primark are copying each other, creating the same mass produced pieces in record time to compete.
The estimates of pieces produced annually prior to 2018 was around 100 billion garments, for a planet whose population is only 8 billion.
Originality is sparse and even luxury brands have sweatshops. Individualistic acts of sustainability while important are not impactful enough. Systemic change is what is needed to fix this problem, a collective power creates change and this pressure must come from governmental rule in order to be of any effect. Silva leaves us on a note of hope, asking to go and tell at least one person one thing we learned today. Hopefully, these small acts of education will greatly increase awareness of the catastrophic situation that is the fast fashion industry.