Our project takes inspiration from a traditional book library, and applies it to clothing. The basic premise is that students would be asked to donate quality clothing to the library. Once enough garments are collected, we would ideally like to create both an online catalogue and in-person space where students from the university can ‘browse’ for clothes and ‘borrow’ them out. They would then have to return the clothing within a set time period, and would only be permitted to borrow a set quantity of clothes at a time. We have also considered charging an initial subscription fee to cover running costs.
This project has several goals. Primarily, we hope to minimise textile waste within our university community and promote slow, ethical fashion. We hope to make ethical clothing affordable and inclusive for university students, and to use the project as a means of educating the community on the issue of fast fashion, and showing them how to practice slow clothing principles. The project would also assist students who need specific outfits for placements or other events, eliminating the need to buy cheap, ‘one-off’ outfits which are then discarded. Furthermore, the project hopes to be size inclusive and remove the status and stigma behind different clothing brands.
Additionally, in removing the profit incentive which perpetuates fast fashion, the project will be better equipped to remain consumer-focused, rather than profitmotivated. This will ensure that the library remains accessible to people from all economic backgrounds. Finally, we believe that this project would even appeal to students who do not have an interest in slow clothing or ethical consumerism, as the concept of free clothes is itself enticing for university students on tight budgets, even without the social and environmental benefits. It would hopefully then be able to encourage them to think more about their consumer choices.