How we’re slowing fast fashion down
How we’re slowing fast fashion down
Image caption
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet?
If you’ve been following the news, you’ll have heard a lot about plastic and how it’s affecting the environment. But did you know that fashion is causing problems too?
Fast fashion, which is lower quality, mass produced clothing made quickly to suit the latest trends, has become the norm over the past few decades.
Most fast fashion companies vastly overproduce, which means materials are wasted and sent to landfill. The product rarely lasts longer than a couple of years, whether it’s faulty, fits poorly, or has simply gone out of fashion. The customer then buys something to replace it, more clothes are made, more materials and resources are wasted - and the cycle continues.
At David Nieper, however, we’ve always done our bit to help protect the earth’s resources and build a sustainable future. Here are just a few ways we’re fighting fast fashion and doing things differently:
- For almost 60 years, we’ve designed and made all our own clothing in our Derbyshire factory, from first sketch to final stitch. A 2019 University of Nottingham study showed that, as a result, a garment made in our sewing rooms produces 47% lower emissions than a similar garment made in an offshore manufacturing plant.
- We plan our manufacturing very carefully, analysing trends and demand to ensure we only make as much clothing as needed. Sometimes, we only make a garment when we receive an order - so it really is made just for you.
- By adding features like elasticated waistbands and adjustable fastenings, we create longer life clothing that can still be worn if your shape changes. For you, that means you won’t have to part with a much-loved dress or skirt when you go up or down a size.
- Quality is key to creating clothing that lasts, so we work with the finest fabrics and carefully honed techniques to craft high quality, well-made clothing designed to last years. And it works; on average, David Nieper customers wear their clothes five times longer than the national average (2.2 years), simply because they can.
- Trends pass quickly, which means catwalk-led clothing rapidly goes out of style. We labour over every design to create timeless pieces that will feel just as fashionable in ten years’ time as they do today.
- We don’t send any waste to landfill. All of our waste is reused, recycled, or composted to make fuel.
- In our design brief for our undergraduate design competition, we include a sustainable fashion element - inspiring the next generation of designers and makers to think about how they can create clothes responsibly.
While actions like these are wonderful for the environment, they benefit you, too. Careful production, quality fabrics and in-house manufacturing all help us to create beautiful, long-lasting clothing you’ll buy once and wear too often to count. In fact, we’re so confident about our clothing that we even offer a quality guarantee.
Take a stand by choosing local, sustainable clothing. You can find out more about how we make your clothes here.