Recent collaborations between fashion houses and appliance giants are leading the way for us to lower the environmental impact of our wardrobe
One thing has become crystal clear in the course of the last 12 months: shopper preferences have shifted, with second-hand garments now coveted over brand new. We’ve never thrifted so much and, concurrently, we've never been so selective with brands based on their sustainability credentials. While it’s no surprise, seeing second-hand truly dominate our feeds certainly signals the momentum of an underlying social revolution. And with shifting values, comes a shift in aesthetic.
My social feed is divided into two camps; the clean, saturated imagery of those stuck in the pre-Covid, millennial era of the Instagram model’s reign, and those eating up the new generation’s more rebellious tastes. The same applies to brands. And those on trend are easy to spot. Some are heritage labels that saw the window of opportunity and capitalised on the early noughts comeback (looking at you, Diesel). There are the recently established brands born in this era. who both understand and resonate with the new, hard-to-impress target audience (Jade Cropper, Knwls, Coperni). And then there are those that have managed to scratch all of our hard-to-reach places, checking every box in terms of both values and aesthetic. One such label is Rave Review.
Jade Cropper spring/summer 2023.
Knwls spring/summer 2023.
Diesel autumn/winter 2023.
I nod internally every time I spot someone sporting a Rave Review piece. Not only because I’m a fan of the brand’s designs, but because their founding principles make you proud to wear them. Values that all will have to get on board with if they hope to be future-proof. Now, more than ever, there is an expectation that brands no only voice their values, but also follow through. And not just through some 'oh so transparent' virtue signalling. Advocating for higher moral standards in the industry means a corporation’s greatest concern must extend beyond sales.
A good example is a recent collaborator of Rave Review’s: Electrolux. The brand partnered with the appliance giant this past year in creating a collection to advocate for changing some of our deeply rooted bad habits. The pieces (which are not for sale, by the way) were made with scraps sourced from the world’s largest clothing graveyard, the Atacama Desert, where every year 39 tonnes of abandoned clothes are dumped. A colossal amount, but still just a fraction of the 21 million tons that is estimated to end up in depots each year.
“It’s clear that we need to change the way we use and maintain our clothes,” says Vanessa Butani, vice president of group sustainability at Electrolux. Studies show that a garment is used, on average, only 10 times before it’s discarded. “Thanks to research, we know that extending the life of our clothes by as little as nine months can decrease carbon emissions, water use and waste by up to twenty to thirty percent. There are many ways we can do this,” she continues. “Through repairing and reusing old clothes, and washing them using more sustainable methods.”
‘Which sustainable methods?’ you might ask. Electrolux has brought our attention to an alternative that’s apparently been right under our noses: steaming. A change that saves up to 96 percent more water in comparison to other programs, and one that’s already available in many washer’s settings. And they’re not the only ones. Another innovation that’s recently been released is a new micro plastic-fighting washing machine from Samsung and Patagonia. One that washes clothes with less wear, meaning less fibres being shed, and catching those fibres that are shed with a special filter. Fibres that otherwise end up in our oceans, contaminating everything from the underwater inhabitants and the air we breathe, to our food and even our blood.
Through revolutionising the way we do our laundry, these solutions are creating an opportunity to lower the environmental impact that’s been a socially accepted product of the fashion industry for far too long. Other small habits add up too. Waiting to wash until you can fill a whole machine, lowering temperatures and using washing liquid instead of powder are all ways to remedy the consequences of our wardrobes. Some may wonder if this is placing too much accountability on the consumer, when the brands themselves are responsible for a large share of the waste. I wouldn’t disagree. But it’s important to remind ourselves that as much power as brands might have, it is the shopper that holds the ultimate power of demand, and thereby also supply.
Governments are cracking down too. As of 2025 all new washing machines sold in France will be required to be fitted with a micro plastic filter, with similar standards soon to be adopted in the UK. Not to mention that today’s third parties are scrupulous in holding corporations accountable. Accounts such as Diet Prada and Saint Hoax (to say nothing of recent exposés on Tiktok) are where those that do not live up to their own promises or society’s standards go to die.
And with the growing costs of living another converging trend will surely be on the rise: making the most of what you’ve already got. A personal favourite tweet from the past year reads: “Due to an increase in gas prices, a man hanging from the passenger side of his best friend’s ride is no longer a scrub, he is a man making smart financial decisions and I’m intrigued” (@roastmalone_). The same shift, from hankering for the shiny and new, to beginning to see one’s wardrobe as an investment, is taking place. Both in terms of how many wears you get out of an item, but also how many lives it can live in other homes. With half that investment being in what you buy (quality, brand), and the other half in how you treat it once it’s yours.
My prediction is that this is only the beginning of these values taking root. The second-hand trend won’t be slowing down anytime soon, with a spike in awareness surrounding garment care sure to be hot on its heels. So, if in the next however many years you’re standing between the choice of a washer with or without these settings, you’d be doing yourself and the planet a favour to opt in.