Sustainable Fashion Week (UK) to go ahead in September 2021
Events, workshops, skills learning, clothes swaps, panel discussions, a buzzing marketplace, repair cafes… and more is coming soon.
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, and with support from Block B, Solarsense and FSC UK, Sustainable Fashion Week (SFW) is now able to announce that it will go ahead from 11 to 19 September 2021. It will be based in Bristol, with mini events in pop-up locations across the UK, led by our growing team of ambassadors. We’re asking the local and national community to save the date and get involved. SFW wants to help change the narrative of sustainable fashion to one of positivity, gain and accessibility.
SFW is a community-led week of creative activity helping to inspire positive changes in our fashion habits… and we want YOU to participate! We’re seeking people from all backgrounds to take part by hosting mini events in their communities, helping to share skills and information about the industry. There is no experience needed – just a desire to inspire your friends, family and wider community.
SFW will be the first of its kind, where the focus is not on next season’s trends but instead on community action and equipping ordinary people with the skills and information they need to make positive changes in favour of sustainable fashion. The event will support a step change in making sustainable fashion accessible and inclusive – using our four themes of Regenerate, Rewear, Repurpose and Reconnect.
With environmental agencies stating that we have until 2030 to implement significant change in the fashion industry to fight the climate emergency, the need to highlight and reverse the trend of fast fashion is an important step to take now.
Get involved
Led by Amelia Twine (formally of GIVE WEAR LOVE and Eat Drink Bristol Fashion) and a team of brilliant volunteers, SFW is building a programme packed with community-led events, workshops, skills learning, clothes swaps, panel discussions, a buzzing marketplace, repair cafes… and more. The SFW hub will be based in the Bristol MShed, with mini events then taking place across the city wards. The majority of the programme will centre around community to community and peer to peer engagement. We’re building our programme now, get in touch and talk to us now about how you and your community can get involved. Could you run a workshop or clothes swap?
Amelia Twine commented, “Sustainable Fashion Week is, at its core, about bringing people together to support and inspire each other. The industry needs to change dramatically and we want to celebrate the brilliant work already being done by so many people, and to activate more of the community to take a stand for fashion that is sustainable, equitable and representative.”
SFW was due to take place in April 2020 and has been postponed due Covid. Our programme in September will take place both in-person and online to ensure accessibility for all, with in-person events following the latest guidelines and adhering to any restrictions in place in the autumn to ensure it is Covid-safe.
For more information about the event, please visit: www.sustainablefashionweek.uk or on Instagram @sustainablefashionweek_uk
To participate, please get in touch via: hello@sustainablefashionweek.uk
About the Sustainable Fashion Week
Sustainable Fashion Week is the work of a small team of brilliant volunteers, all committed to mobilising communities for a ground-up approach to creating a sustainable, representative and fair fashion industry.
We have until 2030 to reduce carbon emissions by 50% to prevent runaway climate change. The fashion industry currently has a significant impact on the environment and global communities. We have to change the industry to meet these UN reduction targets.
Firstly, and most importantly, we need to see broad systemic change. Fast fashion brands need to be held to account for their contribution to the climate crisis and for the exploitation of garment workers. The biggest change needs to happen where the profit is. We need legislation and regulation.
The second approach is us, the consumers. We can look at how and why we buy fashion and make small changes to help. In 2021 SFW will be curating a week of creative, community-led activity that celebrates the many ways we can begin new fashion habits that don’t harm people or planet.
