Polluting our waters with toxic textile dyes, exploiting workers for dismal wages, and contributing to millions of kilograms of landfill every year – the human and environmental impact of the fashion industry is no secret.
In particular, poor-quality fast fashion garments are being produced and discarded at an unprecedented rate to keep up with trends.
Small business owners, Aliyah Enwood and Grace Fogo, have always loved fashion.
After watching their closets begin to overflow, they decided to start selling their garments.
Both avid op-shop goers, their closets are almost entirely second-hand, but that did not stop them from continuing to give new life to their clothes at second-life markets and now, Sugar and Spice Preloved.
Their new Fremantle store, shared with Mothballs Vintage, is focused on selling pre-loved clothing at affordable prices to save items from joining a growing amount of landfill.
Giving new life to clothing
Resellers of second-hand clothing are sometimes accused of taking affordable clothing from op-shops to make a profit without considering those less fortunate.
But this is not how the Sugar and Spice Preloved founders see it.
Miss Enwood describes the op-shop as “the stop before the bin” where people donate to get their clothes “out of sight, out of mind” without understanding how many donations get thrown away.
In Australia, only about 16 per cent of donated clothing is put out on store floors, meaning op-shop operators must find them new homes.
While recycling firms such as Upparel have worked to upcycle items, a large amount is put in landfill or exported to developing countries including Ghana.
“If people have a problem with reselling, they should look at where they are putting their clothes when they are done with them,” Miss Enwood says.
She suggests giving clothes to friends or women’s shelters as better options than op-shops.
“It is nice to collect good vintage stuff and sell it to people who are actually going to love it and appreciate it for its value,” Miss Fogo adds.
“You are hurting people, you are hurting your wallet, you are hurting your wardrobe“
Aliyah Enwood
Miss Fogo and Miss Enwood prefer older clothing for its durability and uniqueness compared with poor-quality and trendy fast fashion items that harm the environment and people.
Miss Enwood is especially irritated by clothing designed in Australia but made overseas.
This could be considered greenwashing, where companies present themselves as more sustainable or ethical than their actions suggest.
“It hurts me that people are claiming this sustainability and this […] ethical business model but it is just a lie,” Miss Enwood says.
“Designed in Australia but made with bloody hands in Bangladesh.”
RMIT University Lecturer in Fashion and Sustainability, Dr Tamzin Rollason, explains the long-lasting harms of the fast fashion industry, which is made up of mostly human-made fibres like polyester and nylon – fossil-fuel-derived plastics made to last forever.
“We are making things out of materials that are designed to last forever, but products that are only meant to be used for a short amount of time, so there is this ridiculous design dissonance there.”
Finding personal style in the op-shop
Miss Enwood and Miss Fogo evidently have found their own personal style thanks to second-hand stores which do not impose trends.
This makes for uniqueness.
“Consumers are able to find things that appeal to them in the way they cannot […] in more mainstream retail outlets,” Dr Rollason says.
However, while choosing pre-loved clothing over fast fashion is good habit to develop, Dr Rollason says the way fashion is made and sold needs a “transformative systemic change.”
“Part of that is holding the fashion industry accountable for its environmental and […] human impact […] particularly the unethical labour practices that we know are taking place in parts of the world to vulnerable people.”
Miss Enwood and Miss Fogo are well aware of the much-needed change and have both “seen enough to make [them] so mad at the fashion cycle.”
They say the most sustainable piece of clothing you can buy is one already made, and these are often more affordable, unique and better quality.
Plus, as Miss Fogo puts it, you will never have to experience the mortification of matching with someone at a party again.
