Sustainability is a broad term that is often used in media with varied interpretations. But what does it actually mean? The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as, “the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore [being] able to continue for a long time.” In the context of clothing, this refers to the effort to produce clothes with minimal environmental impact, which proves to be a challenging goal as every step of the process impacts the environment. The fashion industry extracts and overexploits Earth’s raw materials to produce clothes, therefore negatively impacting the environment. Buying clothes can be ethically challenging as the most ethical choice is to not buy at all. Every decision one makes in purchasing or creating clothes has repercussions, and thus at times, the attempt of acting sustainably can feel futile.
Sustainability in a town like Reims can be difficult to attain. For students, cost efficiency and practicality is a priority, especially when environmentally-friendly options require extra steps, time, and money that students do not have. This is why they shop at stores like Bershka and New Yorker instead of ones that create quality clothes that last. The absence of thrift stores in the center of Reims also makes it difficult to purchase quality items at a reasonable price without resorting to fast fashion. Britannica defines fast fashion as, “the rapid production of inexpensive, low-quality clothing that often mimics popular styles of fashion labels.” This practice is unsustainable given that the clothes are produced poorly, with substandard materials, made to be worn while they are popular and then thrown away and replaced with new outfits.
Sciences Po’s fashion and design association, Expose, pursues the initiative of promoting fashion through sustainability and different cultural views. It does this through different poles. For example, the culture pole ensures that Expose celebrates and focuses on a variety of fashion cultures from around the world. Pole Events houses a sustainability group that focuses on organizing specific events related to sustainability. This is done in the hopes of bringing an interest for fashion and its many diverse spheres to campus.
In October, they collected old clothes from students to trade and resell. Initially, I was skeptical if enough clothes would be donated for this to be successful; who would bring clothes they did not wear to university? Nevertheless, the sale was successful, with high levels of student engagement and a majority of the acquired clothes were sold.
The main goal of the sale was to promote a culture of thrift and sustainable fashion as well as an alternative option to throwing away unworn clothes. All items were accepted unless damaged or unsanitary, as it was less about fashion promotion and more about rehoming old clothes. Price-wise, everything paralleled thrift store costs, with jeans being priced around six euros.
Despite good deals incentivizing students and generating a successful turnout, one question still remains: does this encourage people to buy even when it is unnecessary? When talking to two friends who purchased pants, both admitted that while the jeans did not fit very well, they considered the purchase worthwhile due to the low cost. This raises a deeper question of whether genuine sustainability is being practised, or if a culture of consumption being reinforced under the guise of secondhand and sustainability When interviewing Maelle Canal, she cited Halloween as a major reason for the positive turnout. Halloween costumes are known to be cheap and single use. Having this sale at the end of October, when people are looking for a last-minute costume or inspiration, brought in more potential customers. While one may worry about the costumes’ longevity after the holiday, students purchasing their costumes through Expose are buying second-hand clothing, giving life back to previously-used items. This further promotes the association’s goal of sustainability.
Maelle, who is part of the sustainability group, said she was surprised by the amount of people who came through. She shared that there was a constant, steady stream of people stopping by, looking, and buying. One successful feature was the ability to trade clothes for other clothes which ensured that the booth always had clothes to sell and provided an alternative to students who did not want to spend money.
However, the chances of everything being sold was slim. To investigate this, I asked about the leftover clothes: are they donated, thrown out, or stored? Maelle shared that given that the association plans on doing more sales over the year, it will store the clothes. She also mentioned that, with fashion constantly changing, the items that are not being sold now might become popular and sell in the future. Although some clothes might never sell, this is an effective way to carry out their goal as well as provide more opportunities for sales further along.
Through Expose’s clothing donation and sale, they found a way for students to purchase new clothes while keeping it budget and environmentally friendly. Different elements it applied, such as timing it around Halloween and trading clothes, helped achieve this goal. As a result of this event, the association’s initiative of promoting sustainable fashion was spread and proven successful. In a world where it is difficult to be sustainable, Expose is taking action in the right direction.
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