Sustainable fashion can still be cool and affordable, say those pushing for change in the industry.
Pembrokeshire Frame, a charity which aims to support vulnerable people while reusing and reducing waste, said it had seen a 300% rise in profits, the BBC reported.
Elin Manon, a fashion designer from Swansea, said sustainable fashion was "much more accessible" with the increased use of resale sites such as Vinted and Depop.
Helen O'Sullivan, from online sustainability platform SustFashWales, said "shopping our own wardrobes" was a good start.
Frame's goal is to support and upskill people in its community while helping the environment and fighting climate change.
It has brought in former fashion designer Claire Johns as sustainable fashion co-ordinator for its resale shops, who said attitudes to second-hand items are changing.
"Frame has donations from the community. We take them in, we sort them, we take the clothes off them and then we recycle them," Johns said.
"I think in general that's the trend these days, people want to be bespoke, they want to look unique and we can achieve that by being super sustainable," she added.
As well as consciously trying to avoid fast fashion, the charity said the current financial climate has also changed people's attitudes and shopping trends.
"During the cost of living crisis, since we refurbished the store our profits have increased by almost 300%. People are now realizing why it's good to shop here and what amazing quality they can get from charity shops. We've clearly changed that stereotype that it's not smelly, it's not old, and you can get amazing quality stuff at affordable prices," claims the fashion designer.
The skills the volunteers gain are one of the main benefits of the project, apart from preventing many kilos of clothes from being thrown into landfill.
"I just can't believe the donations we get, the amount of clothes lying around is amazing. It really made me think about how much we need, how we buy and shop," said volunteer Maureen Rae.
The charity said that as a result of the new initiatives, it has also been able to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill from 20% to 5%, meaning clothes can be repurposed.
Elin, who makes colorful and patterned clothes, said people need to know that "sustainability does not mean boring".
She said online platforms meant sustainable fashion could be more inclusive of size and disability and tailored to individual needs, which appealed to more people.
"A lot of people think that trends and sustainability don't go together, but I disagree. These trends are based on society and they're based on what's happening politically, what's happening culturally, so you don't engaging with that means not engaging with the culture. But what I like is that you can still be hip. You can still have your own character without going to the high street. So in that sense . I think it's a great step forward," says Elin Manon.
However, she admits: "I would like everything to slow down a bit".
Helen O'Sullivan is the founder of Sustainable Fashion Wales, an online platform for more sustainable and transparent information about fashion in Wales, and is working on a PhD on the subject.
"My problem with sustainable fashion is that there's still no clear definition of what it actually means. Even the term itself doesn't really make sense because the fashion industry is broken right now, so why would we want to perpetuate that?" she asks. /BGNES
Sustainable fashion can still be cool and affordable
