Fast fashion is out of the closet and on the shelf-ie!

If you follow any home interiors accounts on Instagram, you’ll know that fast fashion has very much busted out of the wardrobe and onto pretty much every surface in our homes. In fact, you don’t even need to look on Instagram, you’ll see it everywhere. Seasonal and trending home accessories are big business, and, like fast fashion, purchasing these ‘must haves’ is highly addictive, and in many cases very affordable, so the volumes involved are huge.

The true cost of fast fashion is of course felt not by the purchaser, but often by those making goods in poor conditions, and by the environment.

As someone who is in the midst of renovating and designing a new home, and documenting it on ‘the gram’ (find me @a30sinour40s ), there’s temptation everywhere! But, the in same way as in 2020 I made the decision to rethink my relationship with, and approach to, clothes shopping, my approach to purchasing home furnishings is similar:

1. Ask myself if we really need it, and if we do, do we need it right now?

2. Do we have something already which would do the job, or could be repurposed?

3. What is it made of? Can I find one that’s made from natural or sustainable materials?

4. Can I find it second hand or vintage?

5. Who am I buying it from? How was it produced?

On the last point, this is often the easiest way to stay on the ‘right’ side of sustainability, and as a general rule, the smaller, more local, or more specialised, the producer, the better their sustainability credentials are likely to be. Regardless of price, if a retailer is selling products in large volumes and constantly bringing out new items, you’re looking at fast fashion, and restraint should be applied. That’s a reminder to myself, as much as others - this is the sustainable ‘struggle’, for a reason.

My standard first step in researching suppliers is to google “brand name sustainability”, because first I’ll find any claims they’re making themselves, and if you’re not sure what red flags to look for within their claims, check out the Green Claims Code for Shoppers Guide, which is a good introduction.

Secondly for anyone big you can bet other people have something to say about it. Try it with “Temu sustainability” and see what comes up! Look at the source of the information though, if it’s very good or very bad, could there be an agenda behind it?

It’s no easier to negotiate fast fashion in interiors as it is with clothes, but in fact I think the benefits of finding sustainable homewares are even better. I for one, love finding items for my home that I don’t see in other’s.

So, if you’re avoiding fast fashion in interiors i.e the highstreet, where do you purchase from?

• Sellers with B Corp status (look for the logo on websites) – some of these might still have a feel of fast fashion to them, but every aspect of their operations has been looked into by B Labs, and only the ones who reach their threshold become B Corps.

• Etsy – here you’ll find artisan producers of most things, and if you refine your search by your city, you’ll get the added bonus of purchasing from local businesses too. Read seller profiles to confirm they’re selling their own goods though, as there’s plenty of people selling on mass produced goods bought at cost.

• Antiques fairs, carboot sales and auction sites like Ebay for vintage pottery, glass and furniture. You’ll often find the originals of things that are currently being mass produced for a trend.

• Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and Olio type sites. I do still try and avoid buying second hand items made by fast fashion retailers, mostly because of the materials used, but these sites have loads of homewares on them, and second-hand is a better option than new.

• Purchase the raw materials and make things yourself. Sure, there’s likely to be some disasters, but you might just find a new skill, hobby or even side hustle by giving things a go.

It’s not easy, and I’m 100% certain that I’ll find myself ‘caving in’ now and again, but taking the time to think/overthink purchases has certainly slowed the flow, and that’s a step in the right direction.