Slow fashion – an act of balance
Our mission at Önling is to design and produce your favourite clothes – by that, we mean the clothes you love and that you wear again and again because they are made from natural materials and do not become outdated.
Our mission is based on a passion for changing our habits as consumers – a passion for creating sustainable fashion, and to change the culture of over-consumption that is unfortunately a reality in our part of the world. As such, this is a mission that we love, and which makes us proud to go to work every day.
However, if you consider it objectively and from a business perspective, it is not a particularly good mission. Because this mission points towards purchasing less but better, and that clothes should be of high quality and with a classic design, so they are made to last. Thereby we remove a large part of the potential income from our own business, as we refrain from selling goods to customers who do not need them.
"We would rather sell one good cardigan to a customer than three poor ones..."
Furthermore, our slow fashion mission goes directly against the mind-set of the traditional fashion industry, which emphasises new, new, new. New colours, new designs, new materials – and preferably 4 to 6 times a year. In Denmark, we purchase on average 16 kilos of new clothes per person a year, and every year 90.000 tons of clothes end up with the trash, even though most of it is not worn out and could still be used. At that speed, we are all part of increasing demand enormously, and with that comes increased production, tall garbage piles, huge amounts of waste and increased pressure on our planet.
We do understand the human need to dress up, and that it can bring joy and increased self-esteem to buy new fashion clothes. But before you go out and purchase the newest trend, knowing that those pants will be outdated in 2 months, consider asking yourself: Do I really want this piece of clothes? Will it be my new favourite? Or am I just buying it because it is the latest fashion? Will being part of the newest trend make me a better person, or would I rather save the environment from another fashion item?
"Do I really want this piece of clothes?
Or am I just buying it because it is the latest fashion"
If instead you can increase the life expectancy of each piece of close in your wardrobe, by choosing slow fashion items that you love wearing until they are worn out, thereby purchasing fewer items, then you can personally contribute to making a big difference.
Lotte Ronan
