Sustainable fashion NGO, Redress launches bold campaign to highlight the positive fashion and environmental potentials of keeping clothes out of landfills.
The 365 Challenge is a one-year secondhand clothing campaign seeing Redress’ Founder, Christina Dean, wear 100 percent dumped, discarded or donated secondhand clothes, with outfits put together by leading stylists to promote the ‘Redress it, don’t bin it’ concept. By rummaging through Hong Kong’s clothing bins in search of outfits to suit her fast-paced fashion-driven lifestyle, Christina is revealing high clothing waste rates and uncovering creative and cost-saving alternatives to landfilling clothes. To share this fashion-led educational journey, Redress is inviting the public to join the challenge and to redress their clothes and their attitudes towards clothing waste.
Fashion consumption has increased around 60 percent over the past 10 years. This results in increased environmental pollution emitted during production and by increased wastage.
In 2011, Hong Kong dumped an average of 217 tonnes of textiles into the city’s landfills every day.[1].In the same year in the UK, approximately 959 tonnes of clothes entered landfill [2]
Landfilled clothes result in negative environmental outcomes by the release of a climate-change-inducing cocktail of chemicals. In addition, since almost 100 percent of textiles are recyclable, either by up-cycling or down-cycling, by landfilling clothes all potential for re-use or recycling are lost.
Bin fresh
Every day this year, Christina is wearing dumped secondhand clothing, sourced with support of partners Friends of the Earth (HK). Together with top fashion stylists the campaign will reveal 12 months of broader sustainable fashion subjects, from ways to restyle, reconstruct, repair and care for clothes in order to keep them in the fashion loop and out of landfill.
“I’m shocked at what we’ve salvaged from the clothing bins so far. From bags to bras, we’ve found that the public are chucking out amazing branded, quality clothes, some still with their price tags on. With our fashion stylists’ creativity, we’re turning other people’s trash, from swimming costumes to ski-gear, into my stylish wearable wardrobe. With today’s fashion production and consumption spiralling out of control, we must educate and inspire the public to rethink the way we consume, wear and discard our valuable clothes,” said Christina Dean.
Fashion stylists at the frontline
Every month, supporting fashion stylists will release a new guide to help consumers to rethink their relationship with clothes. Tania Reinert co-founder of eco online boutique, A Boy Named Sue, launches with January’s ‘Finding Your Wardrobe Essentials’subject. February will explore durability, styled by Redress’ Creative Director, Julie Shah. Later in the year, swapping, reconstruction, clothing care and considered shopping will be covered by a variety of stylists including international styling consultancy, Stylecab.
@GetRedressed with us
Redress invites people to join the campaign by sharing pictures of themselves on Instagram @GetRedressed #the365challenge wearing restyled, reconstructed, repaired or recycled clothing.
A selection of the stylists’ favourite secondhand outfits, worn by Christina, will be sold later in the year to raise funds for Redress and Friends of the Earth (HK).
-ENDS-
For more information on the campaign or for interviews with Christina Dean please contact:
Hannah Lane
Email: hannah@redress.com.hk
Campaign Links
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/GetRedressed
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/RedressAsia?feature=watch
Website: http://redress.com.hk/projects/clothing-drives/the-365-challenge/
About Redress (www.redress.com.hk)
Redress is a charity with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in Asia’s fashion industry by reducing textile waste, pollution, water and energy consumption. They achieve this via educational sustainable fashion shows, exhibitions, competitions, seminars, research and media outreach. Their unique profile allows Redress to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders. They work with multiple fashion designers, textile and garment manufacturers, retailers, schools and universities, multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, financial institutions and media organizations.
[1] Environmental Protection Department, Hong Kong 2011
[2] WRAP, Valuing our Clothes, 2011
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