I've been looking into sewing and as I was going through pinterest deeper into sewing techniques, I realized how duped we are. We're cheated into believing that we only deserve these very simply sewn stretchy clothes, but there are so many ways to sew interesting designs. And it's not even that inaccessable! If you're interested in sewing, a lot is achievable.
I do think the next trend in standing out is to use talent to make edits yourself. It doesn't even mean sewing, but suff like wearing your clothes in a differnt way, rolling, tucking in ways that changes that piece of clothing. At the same time shopping will always be easier...
I wish I could agree on people wanting to stand out... but agree that customization is the next big frontier for fashion. More and more people (therefore $) are invested in clothes that fit them and make them look good, as well as sustainable supply chains.
ooh interesting, maybe my feed is a bubble but everyone i see is talking about how trend culture is exhausting so i feel like individualism is the natural solution to that?
@@katierobinson i may also be in a bubble but I still get a lot of influencers on instagram that align with the beauty/fashion youtubers I follow. However, there are a few creators that stand out - namely garbo zhu - and I love their individual aestethic. maybe things are going in a new direction, I'm just not seeing it a lot quite yet
I thrifted a black velvet t-shirt from Zara, I believe, from the year 1999 and the quality of the velvet and construction was so much better than modern Zara. Last year I bought some velvet pants still with tags that seemed to be recent based on the logo, and I wore them once and the fabric started to ripe on the seams. It wasn't because they were too small for me, but it was the quality of the fabric. I just needed to pull the fabric a little bit and it would ripe apart very easily, because the velvet was very thin, especially when compared with the velvet t-shirt. I can see the difference in quality with other older pieces of clothing from other brands, but these two velvet items shocked me even more, because there was such a stark difference within the same brand. So it seems that even fast fashion from 25 years ago is much better than fast fashion nowadays.
it definitely used to be much better quality 😭 fast fashion has brainwashed us into accepting 100% polyester and now we don't know what quality is supposed to feel like anymore!!
About five years ago I taught myself how to sew and have been making my own clothes. I spent so much on clothes and still looked like a slob because nothing really fit. Things fell apart quickly too, and they were also not cheap. Sewing patterns sizes fit me like a glove, so I am a standard size, there is something wrong with the sizing used by clothes manufacturers. I know a lot of people sew because they can’t spend the entire day clothes shopping and find nothing that suits them or fits. I miss people dressing nicely, it is an art form.
Honestly, I think a temporary legal bandage might be forcing brands to take responsibility for disposal of the clothes they make. Especially if that’s coupled with rules around waste disposal, I could see it being a pretty strong incentive to make clothes that can be recycled or disposed of easily-so no more blends of synthetic/natural, and maybe some priority to natural fibers and environmentally friendly dyes (since natural matter burns a lot better than plastic).
I loved eShakti's customizations (both based on my measurements and adding pockets and bra snaps). Unfortunately, my last order there has been missing-in-action for 3 months now. Standard sizes just don't fit well.
Excellent analysis of the probable collapse of fast fashion as brands implode. The return to individualized style reminded me of being a child in the '60s and a teenager in the '70s. Everyone had at least one denim jacket, and many people customized theirs to tell their "story". Patches, embroidery, paint, pins, and maybe even rhinestones were carefully placed, each a symbol of significance to the wearer. No two were alike! Any of these gems that survived should be preserved and treasured!
I'm a lolita/in the egl fashion community. I trust NO Piece under 80 euros (and no dress or skirt under like, 120). Good quality clothes matter even more when there's so many parts (lace and beads and ribbons and ruffles and...etc.). I tend to get my pieces from Etsy from genuine handmade fashion creators, because there's a bigger chance imo that it'll be made to order and with love and care.
this is super interesting, do you tend to avoid fast fashion completely then? and if you don't mind me asking, how many pieces would you buy yearly/ monthly??
@@katierobinson I buy about 2-3 egl pieces a year! As I mentioned in my other comment, I avoid fast fashion completely. I have some black shirts from h&m from when I was a teenager and uninformed and I just sew up any holes and keep wearing them when I'm not in egl clothes. Although I own two very cute sweaters also from Etsy stores and I'm hoping to build up a cuter dailywear closet!
This is why I started knitting. I was already thrifting most things in my wardrobe, however, I was still consuming clothes at such a fast rate that it was as though I was still being governed by the principles of fast fashion. Knitting is such an antidote to this, as it takes a really long time and effort to knit an entire jumper or cardigan, but every step of the process is so enjoyable. Getting inspiration from other knitters or seeing someone on the street wearing a cute cardigan and saying 'I could knit that'. Planning which yarns you will end up using. And then the actual process of knitting is so calming and fun, and feels so nice in your hands. And also, in a way, the garment acts as a time capsule for the time of life you made the garment. For example, when I go on a trip, I try to bring along something to knit, and then when I wear the garment later, I will remember the trip. Or, I often binge a show or listen to audiobooks while knitting - when I wear the garment, I remember the show as well and how much I enjoyed it. It can take months to knit a garment, but at the end, because you've put so much effort and have spent so much time with it, you grow attached to it. Now I rarely buy clothes, new or second hand, because my craving for new clothes is satisfied with knitting. I feel as though I've redirected by energy from thinking about buying new clothes constantly, to now thinking about the garment I'm currently knitting, or planning what garment I'll knit next. I highly recommend trying out knitting, crocheting, or making your own garments if you are like me and love thinking about clothes all the time lol! but want to try be more sustainable.
@@katierobinson I'd start out with going into you local yarn shop and finding a yarn that feels nice to you (maybe nothing too fuzzy) but a wool that feels nice in your hands (since you are going to spend hours handling it) and then buy 1-2 skeins of that and some needles that corresponds in size (you'll be able to get help from the shop or you can see in on the label of the yarn) and then youtube is you friend. Start out just learning to do the knit stitch and just do knit rows back and forward (this is called garter stitch and there are lots of sweater patterns made with this). But youtube/reddit/your local yarn shop is your friends and there are always people willing to help.
@@katierobinsonHi! I started out by fixing small tears or reinforcing seams in some of my favorite clothes, and I think it's a good place to start. Small, easy to manage chunks of learning. I've been sewing for years now and still feel like I don't actually know very much 🥴 considering how long humans have been at this whole fabric thing. But that's ok. I also crochet and knit so I echo everything said by the commenter above. I love my local yarn store lol.
Every time I hear about something wrong somewhere it always boils back to shareholders, and wall street. I think the solution is getting rid of shareholders and wall street. That's rich people nonsense and we normal regular people don't need it.
@@katierobinson I mean to be fair capitalism is the root of a lot of problems because it prioritizes people over profit and causes people to think about themselves more so than everyone. Like for real the only solution to fixing fashion or any consumer based system is to literally dump Wall Street and shareholders.
I totally agree with you. Why does Chanel need to do 10 collections per year. I think 5 would be plenty. I read an article several years ago that showed all the fast fashion ending up in landfill in Ghana. Once I read that article I started buying second hand and I no longer buy from Zara, H&M, etc…My ratio of second hand to new is now 60/40 and I never bought second hand prior to that article. I also not longer buy man made fabrics. Only natural fibers…it might not be much but I think if we all make a few subtle changes it send a message to the industry and its great on our wallets.
honestly, both the expectation on brand's creative directors / garment teams and lack of consumer interest would seem to support fewer collections, and yet we still have countless new clothes coming out 😬
I just attended an African fashion festival called Afrodyssee in Switzerland. Many designers used clothes and unused fabrics that get dumped on the continent from Europe and the US to create new things and original reuse (old football jerseys chopped up and used to stuff toys) it was fascinating talking with these creators who use our innate creativity to counter the harm caused by western lead consumerism 🎉 Ms. Koko in Liberia and only2sewing from Switzerland are also brands who use fabric remnants and discarded new products found all over Africa for the former and size inclusive adjustable and customisable clothes made to order in limited quantities for part of the year only.they are fairly new on the scene but I got a skirt and jacket combo from O3S and the interfacing is made from old hospital sheets! No fusible interfacing. The buttons on my skirt are from Caritas. Ms Koko uses discarded cardboard to make handbags and re-dyes second hand clothing embroiders them and all sorts to create something new. They keep their prices low (for now?) because fashion is not their day job...yet. Hopefully with the shift you predict...observe these small African and Afropean creators will find the space to thrive
I heard Uniqlo already customise items. Not sure if they are considered fast fashion (I've never been there or shopped there), but I think fast fashion retailers will do the thing that makes them the most money. I don't like the blame the consumers/customers, but I think fast fashion will only end when there isn't a demand. The only way I can see the demand lessening is if we swap clothes with each other. You know like how some communities have collective power tools that you can borrow? Maybe something like that.
oh interesting, i hadn't heard uniqlo offered this (they definitely are a fast fashion brand haha) but this sounds like a cool initiative, i'll have to research to see what they offer! completely agree - it should be on brands to recognise their impacts rather than consumers, but they'll always put profit above the planet and everyone loses. swapping is definitely a good solution!!
That's a good idea but I like having my own clothing too much because I can gain an emotional attachment to them which makes me feel better in them as well as cherish and take care of them more.
Very interesting video again. I totally agree on the customizing. Maybe we even go back to the roots of local tailors. (Then I could finally have the job I trained for) My first fashion event was a disaster, as I love quality, quality fabrics, techniques, cuts. Therefore my pieces where understated and couldn’t compete with flashy trendy branded ones. Also the industry is highly competitive, and I wasn’t ready for it then. But many people, especially young ones turn to thrifting and upcycling and have pieces altered to fit their vision. I think that’s great and we should keep to that path. But at the same time many people don’t want to think about their fashion that much, which is fair but unfortunately helps fast fashion along. Just today I had a conversation with my mom about how the internet, and the internationalization of style, has put a lot of very creat local manufacturers out of business. Which is a shame, as these local pieces are those we still like and use after 20, 30 years.
i think you're point about people not wanting to think about fashion too much is super important & may be a hindrance to the future i was envisioning 😭 but we have to trust that if it becomes the "trend" to look different then maybe people will want to fit in that bad they'll start caring lol your collection sounds like it was ahead of its time - if you showed quality like that in 5 years it may have had a completely different reaction!!
@@katierobinson maybe it doesn’t have to be a hindrance. What if companies only worked on a made on demand basis, no more seasons or preproduced collections and you can choose your level of customization? So you can get a basic version immediately or add customization to it and have to wait a bit longer. Of course for that is a bit utopian, but who knows…😅
Pre-Order might be the solution. I see it with indie cosmetic brands. They don’t produce until they get the orders. It’s like needing to wait until Christmas to open up the presents.
i wish it was easier to find local people who make custom clothes! i can only find tailors or a few creators via social media who are popular and often completely booked. i’ve tried to customize my clothes and make them from scratch but it is clearly not my calling lol. i can design but i dont have the technical skills needed for creation
haha i'm also not great when it comes to creating / mending clothing! i can imagine finding someone like this would be quite hard, i think it's definitely a missed opportunity for brands who already have the infrastructure
Fashion is only dead for the fashion TH-camrs (ironically). Every year, their revenue grow and grow, that despite their labor and environmental issues, despite the lack of creativity, despite the higher prices for lower quality.
I want mass hyper-nichety to take over. I've been wanting to break into the fashion industry but I don't like how it operates. I loving sewing, customizing things and making 1/1 items. I really hope the market expands and become more like this so I can be a successful designer.
You should watch Rian Phin's video 'the futuristic fashion vs. sustainability debate' she mentions that sometimes brands doing customization isn't always a good thing and consumers can't always communicate their needs well or know the difference between what they like and what they want to wear :)
This is why I love the rise of sites like Vinted. I've bought a few items on there now, all like-new quality, all fit perfectly, all quite stylish, all complement my wardrobe well, and without ethical/sustainability implications of buying new. Capitalism is a cancer and it is destroying this planet. Anyway, great video I've just subscribed!
Good analysis! I agree, we should go back to having clothes individually tailored and done in good material quality. Brands like Son de Flor already do this. I have ordered custom with them, paid a little more, and I am very satisfied. Unfortunately, I fear we have become so accustomed to cheap clothing that it will be difficult to convince the majority to pay more and own less. And we shouldn't forget that there are people who are so poor that they will not be able to afford that.
Loved this video. As someone who in the last couple of years has been so frustrated with shopping (spending ours at diff shops and not finding anything unique, or that fits properly or is of good quality for price) this was validating. I would love to start making my clothes unique by picking up a skill like sewing, if only to tailor things properly or create something new. Thanks for the great analysis
I think much depends on how rapidly and dramatically climate change is going to continue. Which is impossible to predict. This is just one of a whole host of related issues, after all. General water scarcity, droughts, floods, wildfires...who knows what the world will even look like in a decade or two and how that will affect clothing production and prices. Who knows, how our relationship to China will develop. And so on and so forth. There are loads of factors, that are mostly out of our control. But who knows. Customization is an interesting avenue to explore. Make people more attached to individual pieces of clothing. More interested in owning 'favorite' pieces, they will wear over and over again.
interesting, i’m not sure id agree with movies/music just based on how popular discourse around them are but maybe we the other things? ik wall art has seriously gone downhill (saying this with a mass produced print hung up behind me lol)😭
@@katierobinson coming from the Kpop side of music, album production is so insane that people trash perfectly good CDs and photobooks for the sake of getting photocards and fancalls :(
I literally cannot believe the state of fashion & its low-quality. It has never been this bad. I agree with everything you said plus you've offered some solid solutions. The issue is greed. Greed is killing everything slowly....
Thank you! ✨ you’re so right, I feel like everyone thinks they like fashion but they want to just feel good and look good on their clothes. That’s why they try to replicate others style hoping to look the same. I learned to sew bc my grandma was a seamstress, and I’ve experimented so much with my moms, aunt and grandmas clothes. But now I also feel that fashion fatigue from so many trends on social media. I started to think I should fit in an aesthetic so I started buying clothes and now I want to throw everything and start again 😢 but I don’t want to waste so I’m renovating all my pieces one by one 🥵🫡 I know not everyone can do this so my advice to everyone is to check their body type (ALL the features not just overall shape), colour season and hairstyles for your face shape. And that’s it ✨✨ everyone would feel good and comfortable and beautiful 🫶🏽 Btw I always have your videos in the background while sewing 🫶🏽✨
super glad you're altering those new pieces instead of giving up!! also love this advice, styling for your own body rather than trying to recreate someone else's aesthetic will always pay off 🫶
Hi Katie, love this video. I’ve recently read Worn by Sofi Thanhauser which has blown my mind and given context to the situation we find ourselves in today, I’d highly recommend it and her interviews here on TH-cam.
Mass hyper-nichety reminds me a lot of the harajuku street fashion mentality from the 1990-2000 (I think it started earlier, but that's the era I'm familiar with). The whole idea is that your clothes should reflect your individuality, there's a big focus on repurposing items (like using pants as sleeves, or smaller skirts as neckwear), diy's, mixing and matching clothes and fabrics that wouldn't regulatly be paired together, etc. It almost dissapeared a couple years ago but it's slowly getting more traction with the neo-decora movement.
It would be really cool if it could stop. Maybe instead of getting new clothes in hauls, custom clothing will be created on demand on a schedule like every few months , like how often people get a hair cut or maybe at half that frequency. i remember as a kid i really only got new clothes maybe 3 times a year: christmas, (winter clothes and gifts from relatives) easter (spring and preparing for summer clothes) and back to school season (fall clothes) and if you wanted a special outfit for summer or halloween, it was usually a DIY thing because kids and teens dont have tons of money..
Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but I think the founders of Indyx are on the nose with a strategy to re-invent the fashion industry. Highly recommend you check them out and particularly podcasts with the founders.
I love Indyx! Their app has been a game changer for me. My clothing is cataloged and styled so I can look at what I've been wearing and get inspired to either repeat a cool looked I wore months ago or do a mash up. It takes "shop your closet" to the next level.
There’s no incentive for large brands to do this. The bottom line is they are driven by profit and share price, they’re not driven by sustainability, ethics or anything else. Unfortunately that means nothing will change beyond a bit of tweaking around the edges and greenwashing.
Since it’s been years since I left the corporate world and have had to pick out my own wardrobe for work - I now work in an industry in which jeans and t-shirts are my staples - I have not kept up with the fashions out in the marketplace. However I recently had to shop for a wedding that I was attending and had a hard time finding anything that I liked enough to spend money on. It just so happened that around this time, I really started to lose some weight, and ended up fitting into all my old clothes that I thought I would never wear again and had considered donating or giving away. I basically was able to find party clothes from my old wardrobe that, guess what, were better quality than what I was able to find in the stores or online. This has made me fall in love with all my old clothes again and interested in looking at clothing in the secondhand marketplace and in off-price stores, where I used to shop for my wardrobe all the time.😊
this would be so cool, but i wonder how it would work - would we have printing machines in house, or would there be a dedicated store for this, would there be ethical implications with licensing designs / patterns etc... 😅
Another thought from the egl fashion viewpoint: I feel like a lot of sustainable clothes are kinda...same-y. Vintage and maxi dresses are not my thing. When I'm not getting dressed up in lolita wear, I'm just wearing clothes to cover up my body really. Because there's nothing interesting and cute to me but I refuse to buy fast fashion
GIRL. I love your videos, your thoughts and your eloquence. But please please please, I can't really deal with the simultaneous talking and the newspaper headlines, pictures or tiktok screenshots that are only visible for a split second. PLEASE allow us viewers just a bit more time to read those, if you actually want us to understand the videos. Just pause for one to two seconds, and then continue speaking. That would really increase the quality of the videos. Right now I have to pause your videos MULTIPLE TIMES because I didn't catch the headline you were trying to show because you showed it way too shortly (and I'm actually a really fast reader!!) AND you were talking at the same time so we have to try to listen and read at light-speed simultaneously, which is impossible!!! Pleeeeaaase! Thanks a lot for considering to change that in future videos.
I've been looking into sewing and as I was going through pinterest deeper into sewing techniques, I realized how duped we are. We're cheated into believing that we only deserve these very simply sewn stretchy clothes, but there are so many ways to sew interesting designs. And it's not even that inaccessable! If you're interested in sewing, a lot is achievable.
I do think the next trend in standing out is to use talent to make edits yourself. It doesn't even mean sewing, but suff like wearing your clothes in a differnt way, rolling, tucking in ways that changes that piece of clothing. At the same time shopping will always be easier...
literally this, we've become conditioned to accept clothes that are falling apart almost as we buy them 😭
yes!!!! the possibilities for individuality are endless even if you're starting with a mass produced item
I wish I could agree on people wanting to stand out... but agree that customization is the next big frontier for fashion. More and more people (therefore $) are invested in clothes that fit them and make them look good, as well as sustainable supply chains.
ooh interesting, maybe my feed is a bubble but everyone i see is talking about how trend culture is exhausting so i feel like individualism is the natural solution to that?
@@katierobinson i may also be in a bubble but I still get a lot of influencers on instagram that align with the beauty/fashion youtubers I follow. However, there are a few creators that stand out - namely garbo zhu - and I love their individual aestethic. maybe things are going in a new direction, I'm just not seeing it a lot quite yet
I thrifted a black velvet t-shirt from Zara, I believe, from the year 1999 and the quality of the velvet and construction was so much better than modern Zara.
Last year I bought some velvet pants still with tags that seemed to be recent based on the logo, and I wore them once and the fabric started to ripe on the seams. It wasn't because they were too small for me, but it was the quality of the fabric. I just needed to pull the fabric a little bit and it would ripe apart very easily, because the velvet was very thin, especially when compared with the velvet t-shirt.
I can see the difference in quality with other older pieces of clothing from other brands, but these two velvet items shocked me even more, because there was such a stark difference within the same brand. So it seems that even fast fashion from 25 years ago is much better than fast fashion nowadays.
it definitely used to be much better quality 😭 fast fashion has brainwashed us into accepting 100% polyester and now we don't know what quality is supposed to feel like anymore!!
About five years ago I taught myself how to sew and have been making my own clothes. I spent so much on clothes and still looked like a slob because nothing really fit. Things fell apart quickly too, and they were also not cheap. Sewing patterns sizes fit me like a glove, so I am a standard size, there is something wrong with the sizing used by clothes manufacturers. I know a lot of people sew because they can’t spend the entire day clothes shopping and find nothing that suits them or fits. I miss people dressing nicely, it is an art form.
Honestly, I think a temporary legal bandage might be forcing brands to take responsibility for disposal of the clothes they make.
Especially if that’s coupled with rules around waste disposal, I could see it being a pretty strong incentive to make clothes that can be recycled or disposed of easily-so no more blends of synthetic/natural, and maybe some priority to natural fibers and environmentally friendly dyes (since natural matter burns a lot better than plastic).
let's hope, and also hope that they don't try to shortcut these rules even if they're legally set out!!
I loved eShakti's customizations (both based on my measurements and adding pockets and bra snaps). Unfortunately, my last order there has been missing-in-action for 3 months now. Standard sizes just don't fit well.
ooh thanks for sharing, i hadn't heard of this brand before!! hope you get your order tho 😭
the fashion industry rn is the perfect example of how we've reached the end of american capitalism and doomsday is coming lmao
Excellent analysis of the probable collapse of fast fashion as brands implode. The return to individualized style reminded me of being a child in the '60s and a teenager in the '70s. Everyone had at least one denim jacket, and many people customized theirs to tell their "story". Patches, embroidery, paint, pins, and maybe even rhinestones were carefully placed, each a symbol of significance to the wearer. No two were alike! Any of these gems that survived should be preserved and treasured!
agreed!!! i feel like personalising items like you described would just heal our relationship with clothes sm, we would cherish them so much more!!!
I'm a lolita/in the egl fashion community. I trust NO Piece under 80 euros (and no dress or skirt under like, 120). Good quality clothes matter even more when there's so many parts (lace and beads and ribbons and ruffles and...etc.).
I tend to get my pieces from Etsy from genuine handmade fashion creators, because there's a bigger chance imo that it'll be made to order and with love and care.
this is super interesting, do you tend to avoid fast fashion completely then? and if you don't mind me asking, how many pieces would you buy yearly/ monthly??
oh my god hi im also into egl
@@katierobinson I buy about 2-3 egl pieces a year! As I mentioned in my other comment, I avoid fast fashion completely. I have some black shirts from h&m from when I was a teenager and uninformed and I just sew up any holes and keep wearing them when I'm not in egl clothes. Although I own two very cute sweaters also from Etsy stores and I'm hoping to build up a cuter dailywear closet!
This is why I started knitting. I was already thrifting most things in my wardrobe, however, I was still consuming clothes at such a fast rate that it was as though I was still being governed by the principles of fast fashion. Knitting is such an antidote to this, as it takes a really long time and effort to knit an entire jumper or cardigan, but every step of the process is so enjoyable.
Getting inspiration from other knitters or seeing someone on the street wearing a cute cardigan and saying 'I could knit that'. Planning which yarns you will end up using. And then the actual process of knitting is so calming and fun, and feels so nice in your hands. And also, in a way, the garment acts as a time capsule for the time of life you made the garment. For example, when I go on a trip, I try to bring along something to knit, and then when I wear the garment later, I will remember the trip. Or, I often binge a show or listen to audiobooks while knitting - when I wear the garment, I remember the show as well and how much I enjoyed it.
It can take months to knit a garment, but at the end, because you've put so much effort and have spent so much time with it, you grow attached to it. Now I rarely buy clothes, new or second hand, because my craving for new clothes is satisfied with knitting. I feel as though I've redirected by energy from thinking about buying new clothes constantly, to now thinking about the garment I'm currently knitting, or planning what garment I'll knit next. I highly recommend trying out knitting, crocheting, or making your own garments if you are like me and love thinking about clothes all the time lol! but want to try be more sustainable.
love this, it sounds like such a wholesome, rewarding hobby and i really want to try it!! do you have any recommendations / tips for beginners pls?
@@katierobinson I'd start out with going into you local yarn shop and finding a yarn that feels nice to you (maybe nothing too fuzzy) but a wool that feels nice in your hands (since you are going to spend hours handling it) and then buy 1-2 skeins of that and some needles that corresponds in size (you'll be able to get help from the shop or you can see in on the label of the yarn) and then youtube is you friend. Start out just learning to do the knit stitch and just do knit rows back and forward (this is called garter stitch and there are lots of sweater patterns made with this). But youtube/reddit/your local yarn shop is your friends and there are always people willing to help.
@@katierobinsonHi! I started out by fixing small tears or reinforcing seams in some of my favorite clothes, and I think it's a good place to start. Small, easy to manage chunks of learning. I've been sewing for years now and still feel like I don't actually know very much 🥴 considering how long humans have been at this whole fabric thing. But that's ok.
I also crochet and knit so I echo everything said by the commenter above. I love my local yarn store lol.
Every time I hear about something wrong somewhere it always boils back to shareholders, and wall street. I think the solution is getting rid of shareholders and wall street. That's rich people nonsense and we normal regular people don't need it.
hahah yes, anytime there's an issue it's pretty easy to just blame capitalism 😅
@@katierobinson
I mean to be fair capitalism is the root of a lot of problems because it prioritizes people over profit and causes people to think about themselves more so than everyone.
Like for real the only solution to fixing fashion or any consumer based system is to literally dump Wall Street and shareholders.
I totally agree with you. Why does Chanel need to do 10 collections per year. I think 5 would be plenty. I read an article several years ago that showed all the fast fashion ending up in landfill in Ghana. Once I read that article I started buying second hand and I no longer buy from Zara, H&M, etc…My ratio of second hand to new is now 60/40 and I never bought second hand prior to that article. I also not longer buy man made fabrics. Only natural fibers…it might not be much but I think if we all make a few subtle changes it send a message to the industry and its great on our wallets.
honestly, both the expectation on brand's creative directors / garment teams and lack of consumer interest would seem to support fewer collections, and yet we still have countless new clothes coming out 😬
I just attended an African fashion festival called Afrodyssee in Switzerland. Many designers used clothes and unused fabrics that get dumped on the continent from Europe and the US to create new things and original reuse (old football jerseys chopped up and used to stuff toys) it was fascinating talking with these creators who use our innate creativity to counter the harm caused by western lead consumerism 🎉 Ms. Koko in Liberia and only2sewing from Switzerland are also brands who use fabric remnants and discarded new products found all over Africa for the former and size inclusive adjustable and customisable clothes made to order in limited quantities for part of the year only.they are fairly new on the scene but I got a skirt and jacket combo from O3S and the interfacing is made from old hospital sheets! No fusible interfacing. The buttons on my skirt are from Caritas. Ms Koko uses discarded cardboard to make handbags and re-dyes second hand clothing embroiders them and all sorts to create something new. They keep their prices low (for now?) because fashion is not their day job...yet. Hopefully with the shift you predict...observe these small African and Afropean creators will find the space to thrive
oooh this is fascinating, i'd love to see something similar happen in the UK highlighting fashion from waste / deadstock!
I heard Uniqlo already customise items. Not sure if they are considered fast fashion (I've never been there or shopped there), but I think fast fashion retailers will do the thing that makes them the most money.
I don't like the blame the consumers/customers, but I think fast fashion will only end when there isn't a demand. The only way I can see the demand lessening is if we swap clothes with each other. You know like how some communities have collective power tools that you can borrow? Maybe something like that.
oh interesting, i hadn't heard uniqlo offered this (they definitely are a fast fashion brand haha) but this sounds like a cool initiative, i'll have to research to see what they offer!
completely agree - it should be on brands to recognise their impacts rather than consumers, but they'll always put profit above the planet and everyone loses. swapping is definitely a good solution!!
That's a good idea but I like having my own clothing too much because I can gain an emotional attachment to them which makes me feel better in them as well as cherish and take care of them more.
Very interesting video again.
I totally agree on the customizing. Maybe we even go back to the roots of local tailors. (Then I could finally have the job I trained for)
My first fashion event was a disaster, as I love quality, quality fabrics, techniques, cuts. Therefore my pieces where understated and couldn’t compete with flashy trendy branded ones. Also the industry is highly competitive, and I wasn’t ready for it then.
But many people, especially young ones turn to thrifting and upcycling and have pieces altered to fit their vision. I think that’s great and we should keep to that path.
But at the same time many people don’t want to think about their fashion that much, which is fair but unfortunately helps fast fashion along.
Just today I had a conversation with my mom about how the internet, and the internationalization of style, has put a lot of very creat local manufacturers out of business. Which is a shame, as these local pieces are those we still like and use after 20, 30 years.
i think you're point about people not wanting to think about fashion too much is super important & may be a hindrance to the future i was envisioning 😭 but we have to trust that if it becomes the "trend" to look different then maybe people will want to fit in that bad they'll start caring lol
your collection sounds like it was ahead of its time - if you showed quality like that in 5 years it may have had a completely different reaction!!
@@katierobinson maybe it doesn’t have to be a hindrance.
What if companies only worked on a made on demand basis, no more seasons or preproduced collections and you can choose your level of customization? So you can get a basic version immediately or add customization to it and have to wait a bit longer.
Of course for that is a bit utopian, but who knows…😅
Pre-Order might be the solution. I see it with indie cosmetic brands. They don’t produce until they get the orders. It’s like needing to wait until Christmas to open up the presents.
yes!!! waiting for our stuff will also mean we value it so much more when it arrives 🫶
i wish it was easier to find local people who make custom clothes! i can only find tailors or a few creators via social media who are popular and often completely booked. i’ve tried to customize my clothes and make them from scratch but it is clearly not my calling lol. i can design but i dont have the technical skills needed for creation
haha i'm also not great when it comes to creating / mending clothing! i can imagine finding someone like this would be quite hard, i think it's definitely a missed opportunity for brands who already have the infrastructure
Fashion is only dead for the fashion TH-camrs (ironically). Every year, their revenue grow and grow, that despite their labor and environmental issues, despite the lack of creativity, despite the higher prices for lower quality.
I want mass hyper-nichety to take over. I've been wanting to break into the fashion industry but I don't like how it operates. I loving sewing, customizing things and making 1/1 items. I really hope the market expands and become more like this so I can be a successful designer.
I was pondering on that and I agree that some kind of mix between made to order catalogue style ordering and customizations is the only way to proceed
You should watch Rian Phin's video 'the futuristic fashion vs. sustainability debate' she mentions that sometimes brands doing customization isn't always a good thing and consumers can't always communicate their needs well or know the difference between what they like and what they want to wear :)
oooh i'll be watching this, thanks!!
This is why I love the rise of sites like Vinted. I've bought a few items on there now, all like-new quality, all fit perfectly, all quite stylish, all complement my wardrobe well, and without ethical/sustainability implications of buying new. Capitalism is a cancer and it is destroying this planet. Anyway, great video I've just subscribed!
yes, secondhand ftw!!!! thanks for watching & subscribing 🫶
Good analysis! I agree, we should go back to having clothes individually tailored and done in good material quality. Brands like Son de Flor already do this. I have ordered custom with them, paid a little more, and I am very satisfied. Unfortunately, I fear we have become so accustomed to cheap clothing that it will be difficult to convince the majority to pay more and own less. And we shouldn't forget that there are people who are so poor that they will not be able to afford that.
Loved this video. As someone who in the last couple of years has been so frustrated with shopping (spending ours at diff shops and not finding anything unique, or that fits properly or is of good quality for price) this was validating. I would love to start making my clothes unique by picking up a skill like sewing, if only to tailor things properly or create something new. Thanks for the great analysis
i've been finding all the comments on this super validating too 😭 honestly sewing is such a life hack, i really want to pick it up as my next hobby!!
I think much depends on how rapidly and dramatically climate change is going to continue. Which is impossible to predict. This is just one of a whole host of related issues, after all. General water scarcity, droughts, floods, wildfires...who knows what the world will even look like in a decade or two and how that will affect clothing production and prices. Who knows, how our relationship to China will develop. And so on and so forth. There are loads of factors, that are mostly out of our control.
But who knows. Customization is an interesting avenue to explore. Make people more attached to individual pieces of clothing. More interested in owning 'favorite' pieces, they will wear over and over again.
oh 100%, although i can still see Shein persisting with advertising whilst the world is literally on fire lol
you can say that with most any art form now, movies, music, wall art, merch, ads, stories, ect.
interesting, i’m not sure id agree with movies/music just based on how popular discourse around them are but maybe we the other things? ik wall art has seriously gone downhill (saying this with a mass produced print hung up behind me lol)😭
@@katierobinson coming from the Kpop side of music, album production is so insane that people trash perfectly good CDs and photobooks for the sake of getting photocards and fancalls :(
Big corp just want to squeeze the lemon for their shareholders. The heads are investors, lawyers and not creative people!
@@MisterAnonymousOwOnooo 😢😢 I know how it feels like TT
I literally cannot believe the state of fashion & its low-quality. It has never been this bad. I agree with everything you said plus you've offered some solid solutions. The issue is greed. Greed is killing everything slowly....
it's so frustrating trying to find something you like + that's high quality + fits your price point these days!!
Thank you! ✨ you’re so right, I feel like everyone thinks they like fashion but they want to just feel good and look good on their clothes. That’s why they try to replicate others style hoping to look the same.
I learned to sew bc my grandma was a seamstress, and I’ve experimented so much with my moms, aunt and grandmas clothes. But now I also feel that fashion fatigue from so many trends on social media. I started to think I should fit in an aesthetic so I started buying clothes and now I want to throw everything and start again 😢 but I don’t want to waste so I’m renovating all my pieces one by one 🥵🫡
I know not everyone can do this so my advice to everyone is to check their body type (ALL the features not just overall shape), colour season and hairstyles for your face shape. And that’s it ✨✨ everyone would feel good and comfortable and beautiful 🫶🏽
Btw I always have your videos in the background while sewing 🫶🏽✨
super glad you're altering those new pieces instead of giving up!! also love this advice, styling for your own body rather than trying to recreate someone else's aesthetic will always pay off 🫶
Hi Katie, love this video. I’ve recently read Worn by Sofi Thanhauser which has blown my mind and given context to the situation we find ourselves in today, I’d highly recommend it and her interviews here on TH-cam.
thanks for watching and for the recommendation, i'll definitely check her out!!
Mass hyper-nichety reminds me a lot of the harajuku street fashion mentality from the 1990-2000 (I think it started earlier, but that's the era I'm familiar with). The whole idea is that your clothes should reflect your individuality, there's a big focus on repurposing items (like using pants as sleeves, or smaller skirts as neckwear), diy's, mixing and matching clothes and fabrics that wouldn't regulatly be paired together, etc. It almost dissapeared a couple years ago but it's slowly getting more traction with the neo-decora movement.
bought to go on a deep dive into this subculture, thanks sm for recommending 😭
@@katierobinson Glad to hear it! I suggest you to start with learning about FRUiTs magazine to make things easier to search :)
It would be really cool if it could stop. Maybe instead of getting new clothes in hauls, custom clothing will be created on demand on a schedule like every few months , like how often people get a hair cut or maybe at half that frequency. i remember as a kid i really only got new clothes maybe 3 times a year: christmas, (winter clothes and gifts from relatives) easter (spring and preparing for summer clothes) and back to school season (fall clothes) and if you wanted a special outfit for summer or halloween, it was usually a DIY thing because kids and teens dont have tons of money..
Not sure if you’ve heard of it, but I think the founders of Indyx are on the nose with a strategy to re-invent the fashion industry. Highly recommend you check them out and particularly podcasts with the founders.
I love Indyx! Their app has been a game changer for me. My clothing is cataloged and styled so I can look at what I've been wearing and get inspired to either repeat a cool looked I wore months ago or do a mash up. It takes "shop your closet" to the next level.
will definitely be checking this out, thanks for recommending!!
There’s no incentive for large brands to do this. The bottom line is they are driven by profit and share price, they’re not driven by sustainability, ethics or anything else. Unfortunately that means nothing will change beyond a bit of tweaking around the edges and greenwashing.
This is such rubbish! Fashion has never been an art form at all - it’s always been the most capitalistic of capitalist production.
What fashion industry?
I could wear fashions from 20 years ago and they look the same as stuff in the shops today.
Since it’s been years since I left the corporate world and have had to pick out my own wardrobe for work - I now work in an industry in which jeans and t-shirts are my staples - I have not kept up with the fashions out in the marketplace. However I recently had to shop for a wedding that I was attending and had a hard time finding anything that I liked enough to spend money on. It just so happened that around this time, I really started to lose some weight, and ended up fitting into all my old clothes that I thought I would never wear again and had considered donating or giving away. I basically was able to find party clothes from my old wardrobe that, guess what, were better quality than what I was able to find in the stores or online. This has made me fall in love with all my old clothes again and interested in looking at clothing in the secondhand marketplace and in off-price stores, where I used to shop for my wardrobe all the time.😊
@@QuirkyGirl10 love love love this!!
Thanks for sharing. I agree with you.😊
im so glad im into alternative fashion and i know how to sew
What if in future you can print your customised clothes
this would be so cool, but i wonder how it would work - would we have printing machines in house, or would there be a dedicated store for this, would there be ethical implications with licensing designs / patterns etc... 😅
Another thought from the egl fashion viewpoint: I feel like a lot of sustainable clothes are kinda...same-y. Vintage and maxi dresses are not my thing. When I'm not getting dressed up in lolita wear, I'm just wearing clothes to cover up my body really. Because there's nothing interesting and cute to me but I refuse to buy fast fashion
ooh sorry just seen this so ignore my first question, but definitely agree about fast fashion being same-y!
I really appreciate your channel. The depth of data and analysis you provide is valuable.
aw thank you sm!! appreciate you watching 🫶
GIRL. I love your videos, your thoughts and your eloquence. But please please please, I can't really deal with the simultaneous talking and the newspaper headlines, pictures or tiktok screenshots that are only visible for a split second. PLEASE allow us viewers just a bit more time to read those, if you actually want us to understand the videos. Just pause for one to two seconds, and then continue speaking. That would really increase the quality of the videos. Right now I have to pause your videos MULTIPLE TIMES because I didn't catch the headline you were trying to show because you showed it way too shortly (and I'm actually a really fast reader!!) AND you were talking at the same time so we have to try to listen and read at light-speed simultaneously, which is impossible!!! Pleeeeaaase! Thanks a lot for considering to change that in future videos.
Converse already allows your idea! Pretty mich from all the basic models you can choose on how you want them to look!