How clothing swaps can contribute to your well-being

05 February 2025 News item

Maybe, it’s enough? This is the theme of student wellbeing fortnight, which this year is also focusing on our clothes-buying behaviour. The Radboud Green Office is calling on us to ‘stop buying and start sharing’. Daniëlle Bruggeman, Professor by Special Appointment of Fashion and Sustainability: ‘It’s precisely because they’re such an everyday thing that, through the clothes you wear, you can do your bit each day to help create a sustainable world.’

During wellbeing week – which this year runs for two weeks, from 10 to 21 February – the Radboud Green Office will be making a daily appeal for us to gain new clothes in a more conscious way. It will be doing so with the help of a This is Free Fashion cart, where anyone can seek out ‘gems’ for their own wardrobe. People will also be invited to replenish the shop with any items of clothing they no longer need.

In the announcement the Radboud Green Office stresses the importance of Free Fashion, explaining that there are already enough clothes in the world. ‘We now have enough clothes for the next six generations. And around 273 million new items are added every day.’ Daniëlle Bruggeman very much welcomes this clothing initiative. ‘If we do buy clothes – and we really should be showing more restraint in this area – we should opt for second-hand over more new items.’

Overconsumption

The fashion world is a prime example of overconsumption, with the superimposed presentations of yet another new collection - the ultra fast fashion manifested in a fashion chain like Primark or an online shop like SHEIN. Enough is enough, according to Bruggeman, is a motto that can nicely connect the world of fashion and well-being. ‘Overconsumption and the feeling of contributing to the disposable society evokes uneasiness, also because it is so difficult to withdraw from it.’

Fortunately, Bruggeman also sees an appeal among young people that goes in a completely different direction. 'The pressure has two sides. On the one hand, the urge to overconsume, on the other, the growing awareness of wanting to contribute something to a sustainable world.' This is where powerlessness lurks, Bruggeman knows, because how to make a difference in the clothing industry, which is so complex?

Bruggeman calls clothes a prime way to turn that powerlessness into a meaningful perspective for action. ‘Our clothes are an expression of identity that concerns everyone, with which we make a daily statement about the world we live in.’ You don't change the system immediately with it, Bruggeman says, but the same goes for the vote you cast at the polls. 'Everyone can make the choice every day to contribute to ultra fast fashion, or to the alternative of second-hand or repair. Dressing we have to anyway, and it can affect everyone.'

Daniëlle Bruggeman delivers her oration on Thursday 20 March, 15.45: Stitches of Care. Practising Solidarity through Fashion (including symposium).

De HAN, ROC Nijmegen en de Radboud Universiteit organiseren een gezamenlijke kledingruil waar je goedkoop én duurzaam kleding kunt kopen

Wellbeing Weeks 2025

The This is Free Fashion cart can be visited daily during the Radboud Wellbeing Weeks (10 to 21 February) at various locations , between 9 am and 5 pm. This year, we invite you to engage with the theme in an accessible and creative way during lectures, workshops and other activities. Let these weeks be a time of reflection: slow down, be present and discover what is enough for you.

Check out the full programme

Contact information

Organizational unit: Radboud Green Office
About person: Prof. D.S. Bruggeman (Danielle)
Theme: Sustainability