Why durable clothes still create waste.from @frontoffice.co

Transcript

We love buying things, but we hate buying things again. So how do we make clothes last forever? Is that the solution to sustainability? Is that the solution to waste? And at the most dedicated and extreme end, we've got brands like Volubanks. So check this out. They developed a hoodie they've called the hundred year hoodie. Fireproof, windproof, weatherproof, water repellent, like, ultra, ultra durable. It's a really interesting project. All this money, all this brainpower into durable fabrics, better construction. These are solutions to what we view as mechanical problem. Better what if it isn't? What if we're looking at the wrong thing? So this is a brilliant article by a menswear writer called Derek Gar. So about four years ago, he wrote this article about this concept of emotional durability. And I agree. He's right. We get rid of items that are perfectly fine. And the reason why we get rid of them is that they they're no longer interesting. They've lost their meaning in our lives. And we see it in the way that clothes are described on the internet. 100% cotton, 400 g s s. It's a laundry list of engineering solutions that may not necessarily engage your mind. So something that already reads boring will not be worn often, will not be passed out, and may not even be bought in the first place. So it goes straight from manufacturer into landfill better with all of its good intentions. Even though it's made out of good fabric and good construction. Bored. And thinking in this way has changed my practice. So as a bit of rank experiment, I've designed a jacket that is meant to wear away almost immediately. So this is a corduroy jacket. This is dyed in natural Japanese indigo. So it's almost purplish no, better, over a few weeks, I'll tend to a royal blue, and I'll stay at a royal blue for years. So over a few years, that royal blue in high use areas like over the arms here, maybe over the shoulders, will start to fade away very gradually. And because corduroy is a three-dimensional fabric, it will flatten off with areas that have high friction. So color wise, texture wise, it will start to change. It will start to adopt a unique look. So are you left handed? Are you right handed? Are you in the sun a lot? Do you keep things in which pocket? And you'll start to see your personal history in this jacket. And the thinking is that once you start to share your life with it, you will see yourself in the jacket. And if you have that attachment, you won't throw it away. Even if you do pass it down, you pass on a bit of your personality with it. And I think that no just thinking of engineering solutions, but thinking of clothes with meaning may be another way of tackling sustainability.