‘Positive impact’: Slow fashion brands offer eco-friendly alternatives to fast fashion

CHARLOTTE — A growing movement in the fashion industry is working to slow things down, showing that sustainable practices and intentional consumption can make a big difference.

Slow fashion embraces quality over quantity and prioritizes longevity over endless trends. It counters the fast-paced and often environmentally devastating model of fast fashion giants, like Shein, H&M and Zara.

“It’s fast in multiple ways, the receiving of it, the wear of it, the use of it, and the disposal of it,” said Ali Aita, instructor of apparel design and merchandising at Appalachian State University and slow-fashion designer.

A Business Insider study found the fashion industry contributes 10% of total global carbon emissions, equal to the emissions generated by every country in the European Union combined. The fashion industry is also the second-largest consumer of water among industries. Synthetic fibers also dominate among fast fashion garments. A recent Fashion Revolution study found that clothing made from synthetic fibers, like polyester or acrylic, can actually shed microplastics into wastewater during washing. According to the study, if the fashion industry continues as it is, 22 million tons of microplastics will enter our oceans before 2050.

Despite these concerns, many people are drawn to fast fashion for its trendy options and low price tags. But what about the people looking for an alternative? Enter slow fashion, which is gaining traction in the apparel world.

“Slow fashion can be a couple of different things,” Aita said. “It’s things that are made with more intention overall, like from the quality of the item to the style of the item. It’s not really focusing on the quirky little trends that are coming and going super quickly.”

A Raleigh-based slow fashion brand is helping reshape the industry one garment at a time. Kat Williford started Pamut in 2016 while she was living in Budapest, Hungary.

A mother, designer and small business owner, Williford says her designs are made to order in her North Carolina studio — a stark contrast to fast fashion’s production model.

“We are not mass producing garments and then trying to sell them,” Williford said. “We are selling a style, and then we’re making it to order for the customer, and that gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of being able to customize pieces as well, but it means that we don’t have any styles that we throw away at the end of the season.”

Williford says she uses natural fibers like linen, cotton, or silk.

“Natural fibers are great because they’re very breathable. They last a long time. They’re, you know, antibacterial for the most part, and those are things that you can’t really find in synthetic fibers,” she said.

For Williford, slow fashion is about eliminating as much waste as possible. While Pamut tackles waste with raw materials, another local company is offering 100% recycled garments sourced and made right here in North Carolina.

“We already have so many resources that are already readily available,” said Adam Bratton, Recover Brands’ marketing director. “Let’s use what we have instead of adding more waste into the environment.”

Recover’s trademark is its “hyperlocal” supply chain. Everything they produce, from t-shirts to outerwear to accessories, is made within a 250-mile radius of the brand’s Asheville headquarters. In fact, Bratton says Recover’s products are so local, the entire supply chain can be navigated by bike in one day.

“It’s a totally different supply chain when you can ride your bike around the supply chain in a day, versus, you know, 17,000 miles around the world,” he said.

Bratton says they also offer a closed-loop apparel recycling program where old clothing you no longer wear can be donated and recycled into something new.

“Humans are not going to stop buying apparel,” Bratton said. “Let’s understand that we do have an impact on the environment, and let’s make sure that impact is a positive one and not a negative one.”

Bratton says the average American throws away 81 pounds of textile waste every year, but buying less and buying better quality could help keep more garments out of landfills around the world.

Aita said another way to be more sustainable is taking care of the clothing you already have.

“Mending and taking care of your clothing is one of the best ways of protest, if you will, or activism, because you’re not playing into the buy, buy, buy thing if you’re taking care of the things you already have,” Aita added.

Slow fashion often comes with a higher price tag, but many people say it’s worth it.

“If you’re going to purchase a garment that is made by people who are getting paid a fair wage in a safe work environment with high-quality fabrics, you’re going to be paying more for it,” Williford said. “Our customers purchase from us because of that, because they want to support that.”

For Bratton, dipping your toe into sustainability starts with taking a pause and thinking about how the decisions you make today could impact future generations down the road.

“Take a few extra seconds to, kind of, understand what the impact is, and see what alternatives there may be that have a bit more of a positive impact,” he said. “It’s just being a little bit more conscious, a little bit more aware.”

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