Hopefully our documentary has spurred you to think: how as a regular consumer can I make greener decisions when it comes to the lifecycle of my/my family’s existing closet? If that’s the case, fantastic! We’ve got some resources here for you to explore to help you get started.
Educate and challenge yourself
From the 30 day challenge to doing a little research on a brand, to just finding a good tailor (of which Hong Kong has plenty) to mend or re-purpose something you already have, before you make the choice to make a purchase, have a really good think.
Harpers Bazaar have some really good ideas to get you in a sustainable headspace: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/what-to-wear/a41158/how-to-be-sustainable-fashion/
Who What Wear also share some key knowledge in this article about fashion and your carbon footprint teamed with more suggestions on how to create a more sustainable wardrobe: https://www.whowhatwear.com/how-to-build-a-sustainable-wardrobe
The ‘reFashioned’ team challenges you to wait ONE week. If you can walk away from a piece of clothing, or leave it in your online cart, and are still thinking about it in a week’s time, you may just need it in your life. You also may be surprised however, how many times the attraction wanes, which would have made what you originally wanted an unnecessary purchase.
Frock swap toolkit
You and your friends are having a moment of ‘full closets but nothing to wear’? It’s great that you’re on the same page! Why not host a Frock Swap? Check out this guide we made for you in collaboration with the wonderful sustainable style /fashion advocate Sheryl Bolden of Make My wardrobe Work.
H&M recycling bins
As you see in ‘reFashioned’, we feature H&M’s garment collecting boxes in stores across Hong Kong.
You can find more on those here:
https://www2.hm.com/en_asia1/sustainability-at-hm.html
https://www2.hm.com/en_asia1/ladies/shop-by-feature/16r-garment-collecting.html
Retykle’s consignment model
When it comes to kids, we all know they grow up and out of their clothes so fast. Also featured in ‘reFashioned’ is Sarah Garner who founded ‘Retykle’. If you have higher end children’s clothes at home that are in good enough shape to be resold, consider selling to Retykle.
You can find out more about that here:
https://retykle.com/pages/sell
Donate and Sell
This may be so obvious, but can’t be stressed enough. There are underprivileged communities that need your unwanted clothing.
There are also ways to sell clothes if you’d prefer and Sassy have published a really comprehensive guide on how and where to do this in Hong Kong that’s recently been updated:
https://www.sassyhongkong.com/whats-on-hk-donation-resources-hong-kong/
Where to rent clothes in Hong Kong
If you’ve got a special event coming up or really just need some new fashion feels in your life there are some eco-friendly options when it comes to renting. The concept of renting designer clothes for events has been around for a while and now we are fortunate to have several companies offering these services.
Honeycombers have done a great roundup of what’s available in Hong Kong when it comes to renting: https://thehoneycombers.com/hong-kong/clothing-rental-in-hong-kong/
Buying second hand in Hong Kong
Buying second hand is a model that is better for the environment and kinder on the purse, plus the clothes are usually such high quality and well kept (sometimes never worn!) that no one will ever even know.
Our friends at Green Queen have kindly already summed up the best five places to go and have a guilt free browse:
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/5-secondhand-fashion-platforms-for-your-sustainable-online-shopping-ecom/
If vintage is your vibe and thrift is your budget, Hong Kong has still got options for you.
Time Out journalists scoured our city and have detailed some of its best here:
https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/shopping/best-thrift-stores-in-hong-kong
Test yourself
ThredUp, a US based online consignment and thrift store teamed up with environmental research firm Green Story to come up with this nifty Fashion Footprint Calendar.
Have a go and see if you learn something about your habits:
https://www.thredup.com/bg/p/fashion-footprint-quiz?tswc_redir=true