LONDON — Single-use fashion is becoming as much of an issue as single-use plastics and children’s charity Barnardo’s and survey consultants Censuswide, are urging shoppers to curb their shopping habits and to buy secondhand.
The charity shop is launching a campaign to encourage shoppers to shop resale. The retailer will be launching a short film on sustainable fashion with sustainable style blog Paloma in Disguise and influencer Jade from NotBuyingNew as well as a special in-store booklet that helps shoppers find and style items from its stores.
“Choosing to buy pre-loved clothes for a special occasion from a Barnardo’s shop means you don’t have to worry about bumping into someone wearing the same outfit. It is also kinder to the environment and your wallet, getting more wear out of clothes, which might otherwise only be worn once and end up in landfill,” said Javed Khan, chief executive officer of Barnardo’s.
According to a report conducted by Censuswide in partnership with Bernardo’s, Britons will spend more than 2.7 billion pounds for more than 50 million single-use summer outfits this summer, which is being fueled by the wedding, holiday and festival season.
Single-use outfits for festivals such as Glastonbury and Coachella account for 248 million pounds worth of items or about 7.5 million outfits worn only once, which according to the report, is fueled by the increase in brand partnerships and sponsored fashion content.
Although Glastonbury made a conscious effort to reduce plastic at this year’s festival, festivalgoers increasingly rely on multiple outfit changes to generate content for their social media pages, often shopping at fast-fashion brands.
These figures come at a time when sustainability is considered to be the new baseline in fashion. Fast-fashion brands have recently come under fire for their extremely low-priced products. Missguided released a 1 pound bikini during their summer product launch that has led consumers to question the ethical and environmental impact of fast fashion.
An increasing number of brands are hiring sustainability specialists. Earlier this month, Asos launched a “responsible” filter that categorizes products under “sustainable” or “recyclable” as part of its efforts to adopt an eco-friendly approach.
The Censuswide report for Barnardo’s follows on from wider action by charity retailer Oxfam who recently launched their “Second-hand September” campaign, encouraging people to refrain from purchasing new clothing for the month.
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