From 11 November, students and staff can dispose of superfluous garments, if of good quality, in four containers on campus. ‘This will give everyone the opportunity for a critical major cleaning of their wardrobes,’ said Anne Sluiman, undergraduate student in Communication Studies and one of the organisers of the collection campaign. The handed-in items will be given a place in the Thrift Shop in Kapittelweg 33, one of the buildings of the Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences near the campus. The shop will open its doors on 4 and 5 December.
With the Thrift Shop, Anne wants to contribute to slow fashion. 'There is already so much clothing in circulation, that there is really no need to buy something new all the time. I myself love swapping clothes with girlfriends and shopping second-hand.' The latter, she says, offers another plus: ‘You can then really look for gems that no one else has. So besides the impact you can make, it's also fun to do.'
The chances of someone having beautiful items in their closet that are hardly ever worn are high: according to Thrift Shop operators, on average, one in five items in everyone's wardrobe is only worn once a year. A recent item by Nieuwsuur brought the ‘buying addiction’ of young people into sharp focus: one buyer confessed to shopping three to four times a week, with many an item never being worn. ‘What could be more fun than shopping,’ said the explainer
The advancing online sales of Chinese brand Shein recently brought ultra fast fashion back into the spotlight, all the more so because of now four outlets where you can buy this brand, including in Nijmegen's Broerstraat.
Taxation of clothing industry
The environmental and climate burden of clothing production is huge: it contributes to ten per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and twenty per cent of water pollution, according to figures from Nieuwsuur. This is quite apart from poor working conditions, with one of the low points being the 2013 collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh, with more than a thousand fatalities.
‘We all know things have to change, but despite all the wake-up calls, far too little is happening.’ This says Daniëlle Bruggeman in the item on Nieuwsuur. She is associate professor of Fashion and Sustainability at Radboud University, and one of the antagonists of advancing ultra fast fashion. ‘Collections are changing at ever-increasing speed, at the expense of people, animals and the planet.’ Because of all the negative effects, she believes the change of course needs to happen fast. 'But change is happening far too slowly. It seems we are back to square one.'
Hand in clothing items: between 11 and 29 November in one of the four containers on campus (at Maria Montessori, the UB, the Huygens building and at the Radboudumc Study Centre). For each item handed in, you will receive a voucher to buy something new in the Thrift Shop (with a maximum of 8 vouchers). The Thrift Shop will be open on 4 and 5 December, Kapittelweg 33.
Daniëlle Bruggeman's appointment takes place as part of an exchange around sustainability between ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten and Radboud University. She will deliver her inaugural lecture in March next year.