Slow Fashion: A Sustainable Way of Life
Slow fashion as a concept is getting more attention recently when we talk about the ways we can adjust our consumption habits to create a more sustainable life. With the re-emergence of sustainable and more eco-friendly methods of production, slow fashion brands are also getting the recognition they deserve.
Slow might not seem like the most flattering adjective at first when describing a facet of fashion but when you take a closer look, you will discover a style that has the potential to change the way we think about the purchases we make.
What is Slow Fashion?
From a consumer point of view, slow fashion, much like sustainable fashion, is about being a more mindful buyer. Buying less but making sure that they are well-crafted pieces that were made by ethical means, which will last long is one of the key principles of slow fashion.
From the manufacturer’s perspective, it’s about making unique high-quality products that were made with fully sustainable, raw resources. The care and craftsmanship that each piece receives intending to provide the best value to its buyers is a defining characteristic of the movement.
As advocators of slow fashion, we at Handan Loomswork want to create timeless furnishing that will retain both its visual appeal and quality, while also being completely sustainable thanks to the natural resources we use in our products.
Every item you can find on our website was made to be a piece of art instead of a short-lived commodity.
You can see some of our handwoven rugs and cushions produced with this perspective here.
A Reaction to Fast Fashion
It’s no surprise that with the shift to a faster and seemingly busier life, things that grant us small and quick windows of comfort become more appealing. We as people started consuming more carelessly and in turn wastefully.
The fashion industry is no stranger to waste considering many popular brands burn tones of unused clothes and other apparel that lose their value as fast as the trends that created them. Fast fashion is almost at a point that can be considered a liability both for the environment and people that adhere to its ways.
Brands can dish out countless products of questionable quality and spend more care on marketing than they do on manufacturing said products, which creates a vicious circle of ever-changing trends and buyers who spend their money on items that will go out of style at a moment’s notice.
An Ethical and Sustainable Way of Living
As the name suggests, slow fashion can be seen as a reaction to the passing trends that fast fashion creates. It encourages a lifestyle in which you consume products that were created using sustainable and ethical ways.
You can trace back each product to its raw material thanks to a short, professional, and established supply chain as appose to overseas mass manufacturing methods that fast fashion brands usually prefer.
Recency and mass production takes a backseat to creating a style that values lasting designs, ethical manufacturing methods, and craftsmanship.
For more on sustainability in interior design, you may want to check out this blog post: A More Sustainable Life With Handcrafted Furnishing
Slow Fashion in Interior Design
Interior design has always had the power of being a visual aid to our inner self. When individuals furnish their living spaces, some aspects of their personality and therefore way of life inevitably rubs up on the aesthetics of their homes.
The earthy tones we love using on our pieces give us the same feeling a steady frame out of nature would. The neutral color pallet that became so inseparable from our brand has the unique characteristic of being able to blend in with any interior design aesthetic principles.
Whether you are going for a more Scandinavian look inside your house or want to create a warm, simplistic vibe as we see in Japandi, the color scheme of natural raw materials will blend in perfectly with the rest of your home. Wabi-sabi’s rough, asymmetrical and modest look also shares the same vision with our handwoven pieces.
That's what makes slow fashion so special. The intention is not to create something that sticks out from the rest of the bunch but to make sustainable, high-quality products that are compatible enough to fit together with other amazing design principles.