Kirsten Bennett, one of the founding partners at Lund Bennett Law LLP has pledged to spend all of 2020 without buying any new clothes.
Any items of clothing she purchases over the coming year will be sourced from either vintage fairs or through clothes swaps. This follows a growing awareness internationally of the negative impact that the fashion industry is having on the environment. Textile dyeing is currently the second largest polluter of water globally and it can take around 2,000 gallons of water to make a standard pair of jeans.
Fast fashion is also having an impact on sustainability as people are not keeping clothes for as long as they used to. The modus operandi for a lot of people nowadays is to buy clothes cheap, wear them a few times before discarding them. The sheer number of clothes consumers are buying has also increased. Between 2000 and 2014, clothing production doubled, with the average consumer buying 60 percent more pieces of garment compared to 15 years ago. Yet, each clothing item is now kept for half as long.
People are more widely becoming concerned about where clothing comes from, who is making it and what conditions they are working in. There is a reason why some brands are able to sell their clothing is sold so cheap and this runs back through the production line, sometimes with workers having to suffer shocking conditions.
Kirsten Bennett, Partner, Lund Bennett Law LLP said:
“Over the past 6 months I have completely changed my outlook in terms of wider issues of sustainability”.
“There are so many good quality pieces of fashion that are available. It’s also great that more brands are embracing the need to change their policies on waste and recycling.”
Lund Bennett Law LLP will be providing updates on Kirsten’s journey through sustainable fashion throughout 2020.