If the number of times a garment is worn is doubled, on average, its Carbon footprint would be 44 per cent lower, according to Dhawal Mane, who is organising what is, reportedly, Bengaluru's largest clothes swap event this Saturday.
Along with Bengaluru, where actor Evelyn Sharma will also be participating, the global swap event will be held simultaneously in other cities including Miami, Sydney, NYC, Copenhagen.
"Clothes swap is a popular Western concept where people bring their used clothes and swap them with others who bring similarly used clothes," says Dhawal, who works with a clothing brand as a sustainability specialist. This is his personal initiative.
"I have been doing research on alternative models of clothing consumption when I came across this concept. And one day, when my friend was clearing out his wardrobe and gave me a lot of good shirts and kurtas that he had (rarely) worn, I realized this was a nice way to wear new clothes without buying from stores. That got me thinking more about it."
He then decided to conduct his own swapping event. He is working in collaboration with a US-based organization called Global Fashion Exchange(GFX), an international platform promoting sustainability in the fashion industry through inspiring forums, educational content and cultural events, as well as Fashion Revolution, a not-for-profit global movement. Fashion Revolution has designated the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh as Fashion Revolution Day.
The Clothes Swap event in Bengaluru falls into the week, called Fashion Revolution Week, that marks the disaster which took place on April 24.
"During this time, people come up with innovative ways to make fashion sustainable and more transparent. I am the first GFX ambassador from India and the first from Bengaluru. My role is to organize swap events in the country and popularize the concept of swapping."
The goal of GFX, he says, is to swap 5,00,000 kgs of clothing in 2018
"One of the key challenges we are facing in this initiative, according to a survey I have been conducting, is that people are not comfortable with the idea of wearing something that is worn by someone else. However, most of these clothes, that people tend to throw away, that they can now exchange, have only been worn by them once or twice. These clothes just lie in their wardrobes," explains Dhawal.
"We are also urging interested participants to bring clothes that they expect to take back. They need to bring clothes that are washed, ironed and smelling good. We will have a team of volunteers to check each garment for stains, broken buttons, wear and tear. Only approved, quality-checked garments will go on the floor. The remaining garments will be given to charity." The responsibility of bringing good clothes, reminds Dhawal, lies on the participants as the volunteers are simply facilitators.
The space will also be set-up to evoke a regular retail therapy session with music and racks.
"That way you can enjoy the activity. This swap will be a huge learning experience, I intend to set-up something like this every few months as well as on specific request, at colleges or for fundraising."
The event, which begins at 2 pm at Lahe Lahe, Indiranagar, does not require pre-registration. For details, visit facebook.com/
events/ 396034987536200
To participate in Dhawal's survey, which seeks to understand behaviours towards unwanted clothes and clothes swap, mail dhawalatmail@gmail.com.
Call 9575304565.
