Slow fashion, the environment, and independent eyewear
“Slow Fashion is an approach to producing clothing which takes into consideration all aspects of the supply chain and in doing so, aims to respect people, the environment, and animals. It also means spending more time on the design process, ensuring that each piece of apparel is quality made.
Fast Fashion retailers have taught us that more is better, and thereby have created a huge consumption issue. The fast fashion industry is driving down quality, exploiting the environment and their workers to create cheap garments that do not last. Slow fashion is the exact opposite of this. It’s about creating mindful, curated collections based on quality finishes, versus pumping out large quantities of seasonal and trendy clothing.”
-- Kristi Soomer, CEO Encircled, from Forbes 5/14/2021
Slow fashion! What a revelation! We have invested so much in independent eyewear (in fact our entire collection is independent/not mass-produced), and it is remarkable to be reminded how much independent eyewear overlaps with slow fashion.
The values of fast fashion are equally applicable to low-cost online glasses purveyors. We are not here to call out anyone in particular, but where do those glasses come from? Who made them? What chemicals were used? What decisions were made that ultimately led to the low-low prices? Was their community considered? Was the environmental impact considered?
At Eyes on Hudson, we are intertwined in a sort-of slow fashion web. We are a local business, owned by local residents, and we employ local talent and pay comfortable/above-living wages. We choose beautiful, curated eyeglasses that were made by small businesses, who employ their local talent, and pay them living wages, and make decisions that impact their communities and environments. We support our own community of local businesses by purchasing local goods and services at every conceivable step of the way. We choose nearby labs and vendors to keep a small carbon footprint. We are conscientiously living our values through the business we do. And you can too.
This article from ecocult gives a fascinating look at eyewear through the lens of environmental impact. The takeaway is this:
"The most surprising thing I learned during my journey through the eyewear world is that a pair of well-made acetate glasses is a type of slow fashion. The most eco-friendly thing you can do is invest in a pair of beautiful locally-made, recycled, or bio-acetate frames, take care of them, get them fixed by the brand or a local optometrist if they break, and donate them to someone in need when you move on."
