Fast VS Slow fashion

What exactly is SLOW FASHION?

To answer that question, let’s begin with Fast fashion…

What is FAST FASHION, and what makes it fast?

The term fast fashion was first coined when garment makers would copy designer styles worn by musicians and celebrities, and have the cheaper version on the racks for sale the day after they were sighted at events. Their turn around was ‘fast’, to produce a copy of a designer garment at a fraction of the cost.

One of the most notable examples of this practice was in the 80’s, with  (then) Princess Diana’s wedding dress being copied and available for purchase the day after her wedding.

In this day Fast fashion is defined by, not only a fast turn around, but the exploitation of workers (since clothing is manufactured predominantly in third world countries). It also creates high profits by working on a  model that produces large quantities of garments that are highly marked up, and reduced as demand diminishes. Garment styles are generally plagiarized from designer, or even owner operated businesses.

Garments are usually created using polyester and poor quality fabrics. There is little regard for dealing with waste produced in making garments,  over produced stock, or chemicals used in the many processes.

That is a brief description, we will look deeper into these issues in a later post.

The SLOW FASHION movement

The term ‘Slow’ fashion was born as an opposition to the phrase ‘fast fashion’.

The slow fashion movement endeavours to ‘slow things down’, and reduce waste in the fashion industry by creating garments in small quantities for a specific market. Many slow fashion designers prefer to use natural fibres and dead stock fabrics. They are also conscious of  waste created in the production process, and finding ways to use up or redistribute fabric off cuts. Taking responsibility for any waste caused in creating the garments.

Garments are made with care and quality  and are designed to be worn, altered, handed on, resold, and reused. Creating ‘circular’ fashion. Many slow fashion designs are original in their styling to avoid looking dated as trends change. Garments are priced according to costs.

 Slow fashion designers will seek out makers with ethical accreditation, and industry certifications.

Berserk is a slow fashion label.

Designer Karen has a huge fabric archive, much of which was purchased from designers she has worked for and more recently from colleagues closing down. Karen is also a qualified pattern maker, so our designs are all original.