West London Waste Authority is working in partnership with GFX to host one of London’s biggest and hottest free clothes swapping event at Victoria and Albert Museum on Sunday, 1st July 2018. The event will include talks from some of the most influential leaders in the fashion industry to support the #notextilesinthebin campaign, following with the main swapping event with stock donated from Arcadia!
Across the UK, around 300,000 tonnes of textiles is thrown out annually resulting in over 5% of the UK’s annual carbon and water footprint and while only 16% of total unwanted textiles are reused. If we can make more uses of our textiles, we could reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by up to 30%! To put things into perspective – most people wear an average piece clothing for an approximately of 7 days, when an average piece can last up to three years!
Free tickets can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gfx-london-and-wlwa-swap-pop-up-talks-general-admission-tickets-47082358602
Speakers include Fashion Revolution, C&A Foundation, GFX, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, WLWA, Common Objective, Fashion 4 Change, Avery Dennison, Traid, Mindrheo.
Location:
V&A South Kensington, Exhibition Road Entrance via The Slacker Courtyard
Agenda:
10:00 – 12:00 – Clothes Drop Off
12:00 – 13:30 – Talks
14.30 – 17:30 – Swap
Rules:
Swapping works best when there is a high standard of quality ensuring everyone takes home something they’re happy with. With this in mind, West London Waste have some quality control standards in place for all their events.*
• Items should be clean, folded or pressed
• Items should be of good quality with a long potential lifespan
• Items should be likely to be valued by others – ask yourself, would I be happy to give this item to a friend?
• Items should be free of faults or with minor faults that are easy to repair (for example, a missing button)
• Please take extra care with garments made or wool, or fur or feather trims which may be attractive to museum insect pests in particular clothes moths and carpet beetle *
The best items to swap are good quality garments that you once loved but are no longer your favorites or perhaps no longer fit you perfectly. This way, you’re giving them a second life with someone new who will treasure them. Whatever you swap, please make sure to are emotionally detached from the item, as once it has been swapped you cannot change your mind, and any items left over (events only) go to charity.
*Note: At West London Waste events they have quality screening processes and do not accept anything pilled, pongy or too far from perfect. They do not exchange undergarments, swimwear or tracksuits. If you would like to bring garments or textiles not suitable for swapping, they will facilitate recycling for you. Items with signs of infestation will be removed. Maximum of 5 items per person per swap.
