Australian's 'clothes library' fights the throwaway culture of fast fashion
In a small shop along one of Sydney's busiest streets, Sarah Freeman is encouraging Australians to slow down and break their addiction to fast fashion. Shocked by the speed at which Australians buy and throw away cheap garments, she is trying to harness an ancient concept - libraries - to persuade shoppers to rent instead of purchase clothes. "Today's society just seem to wear clothes like condoms. They wear them once and they throw them away," said the vintage garment aficionado at her Clothes Library in the inner suburb of Potts Point. "That's not how clothes are supposed to be designed. The clothes nowadays are manufactured for six wears, I think, which is terrible." Globally, clothing production doubled from 2000-2014, with the number of garments bought each year by consumers soaring by 60%, says consulting firm McKinsey. A booming part of the industry, also in Australia, is fast fashion, which quickly turns catwalk designs into apparel that are sold at low or ultralow prices an...
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