Clothes swapping events are sweeping the land as the sustainable alternative to our consumerist throw-away culture. Mark Saunokonoko went along to one to experience the trend first-hand.
The invitation had been a no brainer; take as little as one item to a clothing swap and walk away with as many clothes as I fancied – for zero pence.
The reality, however, when it arrived, was a rather scarier proposition. On the eve of heading off to my first clothes swap, my stomach started to fill with something approaching a sense of dread.
Height of fashion
The thing was, this clothing swap was this time being held at London College of Fashion, one of the premier training grounds for Britain's world beating design industry.
What if every thing I took to the swap failed the grade and was still there at the end? Undisturbed, untouched and unwanted, like an old, eager dog at the pound?
I hesitantly packed an unloved jersey, two t-shirts and a hardly worn shirt into a plastic Tesco bag, before coming to my senses and stuffing them inside a paper carrier bag.
Recycling
Swap organiser Rachael Stewart, assured me that there was no need to worry. The whole point was to rid my closet of things I no longer wore and recycle them with someone else’s unwanted wares.
She then rattled off a series of alarming figures that had inspired the idea of clothing swaps in response to what she describes as the throw away fashion trend.
Every year UK consumers purchase 2.15 million tonnes of new clothing, shoes and accessories, and, in that very same year, throw away more than 900,000 million items – yes, 900,000 million.
Next page: taking the plunge
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