Annotations - slow fashion

Most high street cashmere sweaters tend to be replaced at least every two years after wear and tear due to pilling and deteriorated quality. Over the course of ten years, purchasing one London W11 sweater can almost save the consumer an average of £270 and reduces the negative impact of animal husbandry for 16-40 goats, depending on the quality of cashmere used in the other garments purchased. London W11 wants to empower you to replace the throwaway culture by consuming circular luxury and adopting new purchasing habits. When you buy a circular cashmere garment from us, we believe that you will feel good when you buy it, and continue feeling good wearing it for years to come. Inspired by this ethos, we ensure that our cashmere garments are machine washable and don’t require dry cleaning. This makes it easy to care for garment while saving dry cleaning costs that are typically associated with maintaining cashmere. Therefore, easy maintenance and a minimum 10-year guarantee make it the right choice for a consumer.

(machine-washable cashmere!) #circular-fashion #transformative-values ("empowering" consumers)

Whatiscircularluxuryandwhydoesitmatter? London W11 is going circular as a firstmover: Drastically reduce cashmere fibre waste in the fashion industry - currently,12%of materialisbeingthrownawayduringthemanufacturingprocess; Radically reduce the environmental impacts of producing new garments, by using5xless dye(and therefore reducing water waste) per sweater, minimising transportation costs, and usingca.25%oftheGradeAvirgincashmerewoolcompared to a normal sweater, equivalenttosavingthewoolfrom6-8cashmeregoats;   Combatthewastefulcycleof"seasonal"fashionby making durable products that last and never go out of style. Circularity is the eco-conscious choice, the essence of sustainability.

#circular-fashion #waste (material, dye, water, transportation) #recycled-cashmere #slow-fashion #durability -- Most of the argument in this Kickstarter campaign focuses on waste reduction, but it also stresses the cost savings to consumers. There is no real discussion of rangelands, etc.

although cashmere may be the first word that resonates with you, the meaning behind this material runs far deeper than that. Each piece is a result of the Nomad’s hard work fighting desertification, preventing overgrazing, and enduring long Mongolian winters. The amount of work and the rich historical practices that go into producing just one garment is what makes our cashmere and yak wool pieces unlike anything you will find in the world of fast fashion.

The work to combat desertification and overgrazing is interestingly linked to a capacity to survive in an extreme climate; the Nomad is resilient and hard-working. This is perhaps intended as a counter-narrative to #overgrazing and #desertification , implying that herders have always practised sustainable livelihoods: #indigenous-sustainability .

Born of Nomad brings you purposeful, sustainable cashmere and yak wool pieces from the Mongolian steppe. With the help of Nomads that have roamed this land for more than 3,000 years, we call consumers away from the harmful world of fast fashion; instead encouraging them to appreciate mindfully created garments that stand the test of time and serve a larger purpose.

The crisis in cashmere was already being discussed over two decades ago (as detailed in this article by the New York Times) and with the rise in the number of fastfashion brands using the material, this issue has steadily worsened. The increased grazing due to a rise in the number of goats needed to match the current demand leads to the eventual degradation of the grasslands.

The referenced article is actually in the New Yorker, . #slow-fashion (actually a critique of fast fashion)

They're making the sweaters that last, that really are passed down from generation to generation." For Shah, Scotland and Italy's meticulous techniques for spinning, knitting and weaving cannot be found elsewhere. "They also take a lot of pride," she says. "I know that's a really soft metric, but you can tell with factories when they're actually familyowned and they're working with their clients and they take very few clients."

Wisner London o

fter a decade of witnessing firsthand the overproduction of fast fashion that is not re-wearable, recyclable or re-sellable, we decided to do something about it. We saw amazing qualities in luxury fabrics , silk and cashmere, and envisioned game-changing clothing that is 100 percent sexy on you as well as the environment. If you want to help the planet, it starts by re-wearing your clothes, and our aim at Frances Austen is to make that easier for you. All our pieces are made to last, versatile for every occasion and comprised of biodegradable materials and are 100 percent cashmere.”

(biodegradeable and recyclable). Coblentz's claim is essentially that cashmere is an inherently sustainable textile.

After many years in the fashion business, Frances Austen founder Margaret Coblentz was tired of seeing the trends in fast fashion, including a flurry of wasteful production and post-consumer disposal. With the clothing industry consistently falling into the highest-ranking waste production industries, she decided to do something about it with a very basic philosophy — make quality clothing that is versatile and long-lasting. Her goal is to encourage consumers to re-wear clothing, both because it’s good for the planet and because they love what they’re wearing. With that in mind, the luxury product line aims to be both trendy and timeless.

We’re committed to creating We’re committed to creating gender-neutral wardrobe staples gender-neutral wardrobe staples that are kind on the planet. We that are kind on the planet. We don’t compromise on design or don’t compromise on design or sustainability, we create products sustainability, we create products for life, not just a season.

"It's something we've decided to incorporate into our collection as evergreen pieces and we'll continue to introduce further styles next year,"

Reference to recycled cashmere fibres, which the designer learned from a Tuscany mill. Note the use of the term "evergreen"