Slow Fashion Club educates and creates for sustainability
Written by Maddie Marks. Photo courtesy of SCAD Slow Fashion Club.
Faster doesn’t always mean better, especially when it comes to clothes. Fast fashion brands like SHEIN, Fashion Nova and Topshop have boomed because of their ability to generate runway-inspired clothing at low prices, but behind the scenes, this type of clothing production exploits underpaid garment workers, dumps tons of waste into landfills, and damages ecosystems. Fortunately, people are fighting back — and SCAD’s Slow Fashion Club is one of the many groups pumping the brakes on fast fashion.
“The club started because students in the fashion department wanted to focus on sustainability, which is something we didn’t really find in the department,” says Anyssa Merlini, President of the Slow Fashion Club. “We’re here to be a voice for students who are passionate about fashion sustainability.”
Merlini works with 5 other students on the Slow Fashion Club Executive Board to bring workshops, clothing swaps, information sessions, and other events to the community. Her personal goal as President is to teach as many people as possible in the fashion department — and other departments — about the importance of sustainability.
“I’m trying to put the energy back into education and resources,” says Merlini. “The clothing swaps are fun, but we really want to get everyone to be as sustainable as possible.”
Photo courtesy of SCAD Slow Fashion Club.
And the club has a lot of ideas on how to do this. In the past, they’ve held workshops on natural dyeing, informative sessions about sustainability news, and lessons on basic sewing skills to lengthen the life of clothing. As more people get involved, they’re coming up with creative ways to draw crowds and use donated clothing, such as their Upcycling Competition, which was held on April 15.
“We have a big hoard of non-donatable clothes and fabric scraps that we wanted to put to good use,” Merlini said. “Participants came and picked through some of the items to grab everything they needed, and then they had a week to create a fully-finished garment.”
The Upcycling Competition was a huge success, with a turnout of over 160. The Slow Fashion Club partnered with Lite Foot Company, a local, sustainable refillery, who reached out to the club with the idea. The three winners received gift cards to Lite Foot, while the first-place participant will create a line to showcase at Atlanta Sustainable Fashion Week in the fall.
“That’s the type of thing we want to continue in the future,” Merlini says. “It makes such a big impact and brings so much good attention to the club.”
As the club grows and hosts more events, Merlini says the feedback it has received has been overwhelmingly positive. With a new social media manager, their Instagram has doubled in followers over the past year, reaching SCAD students and industry professionals alike.
Photo courtesy of SCAD Slow Fashion Club.
In the near future, Merlini wants to continue her goal of education by publishing a newsletter and bringing in industry connections to speak on sustainability. She also wants to educate students through firsthand experiences with sustainable companies like Goodwill.
“We’ve been offered the opportunity to tour the backside of Goodwill and learn about the ways they collect and donate clothes, as well as some of the outreach programs they have in the community,” Merlini says. “I was able to attend on a field trip and I want to offer that up to the rest of the club.”
Even though the Slow Fashion Club would love to do it all, Merlini says the biggest problem they have run into is scheduling issues. As much as they appreciate hearing that people enjoy the events and want more, being a student-run club means that time can be limited.
Despite that, the Slow Fashion Club makes it a priority to promote sustainability in many creative ways. And for Merlini, the hard work is absolutely worth it.
“When you see people come to the events and they’re smiling and happy to be there, that type of feedback is so amazing. They’re excited to see that we offer this to the community here.”
