Behind the Scenes · Reading time: 2 minutes
The Future of Fashion is slow
Why do we only make two collections per year?
We love fashion and that is exactly why we are committed to slow fashion. Twice a year, we create collections of around 120 pieces on average in our Cologne studio - a spring/summer and an autumn/winter collection.
Why do we consciously decide every year not to offer any intermediate collections and instead focus on two well-thought-out collections – completely contrary to the current fast fashion trend?
The Problem of Fast Fashion
A 2015 study by Greenpeace shows that every adult German owns an average of 95 items of clothing - excluding underwear and socks.¹ Around 60 more items are added each year and the number continues to rise as the selection of fast fashion increases and prices fall. But why is fast fashion a problem in the first place?
Disposable Items: Fashion
Firstly, fashion has degenerated from a luxury item into a disposable product.
In Germany, around 55 billion euros were spent on fashion in 2020 - making clothing the leader in the non-food segment.² However, one in five items of clothing is never worn. In total, that's over 1 billion items that remain unworn in German wardrobes every year - and the trend is rising! The biggest reason for this - besides wear and tear and weight gain/loss - is the changing taste/style of clothing and the feeling that the clothes are no longer fashionable.³
The appreciation for clothing has declined rapidly over the last few decades, and with it the willingness to pay a reasonable price for good and fair fashion. This particularly affects the seamstresses and producers, but also the environment.
On the other hand, a huge mountain of clothing waste is created, of which only a fraction can actually be reused or further processed.
An insightful study commissioned by Labfresh has shown that every German throws out around 5 kg of clothing per year. In total, that's over 391 thousand tons of clothing waste - every year! The shocking thing is that only a small part of your clothing donations is actually recycled or resold as second-hand goods. To be more precise: Of the approximately 5kg, only 500 grams are recycled and only 400 grams are resold as used clothing. Almost a quarter of the disposed clothing is burned intensively to produce CO2 and more than half even ends up in landfills, which are particularly harmful to the environment.⁴
Conscious consumption and appreciation are the solution
Even though calls for slow fashion are getting louder - that is, brands should produce significantly fewer collections per year and consumers should think carefully and consume less - the fast fashion industry seems to be following the principle of "more is more". New collections sometimes come into stores and online shops every week and at what seem to be ever cheaper prices.
To counteract this trend, it is important to consume and value clothing more consciously. Production and consumption must decrease in order to continuously improve working conditions in the producing countries and reduce environmental impact. A good alternative is to resort to fair fashion and consciously buy clothing that is timeless but still fashionable.
LANIUS places particular emphasis on sustainable and robust materials and timelessly beautiful, classic designs so that you can enjoy your favorite pieces for as long as possible.
For those who do not want to do without inexpensive clothing or consciously do not want to buy newly produced goods, second-hand clothing is a very good alternative.
