Electrolux and Rave Review teamed up to help with the throwaway fashion waste crisis by inspiring people to keep their clothes longer. Electrolux is a Swedish home appliance brand who hope to inspire people to break this pattern by working with Swedish fashion designers Rave Review, creating a unique fashion collection made from discarded clothing.
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The clothing for the collection comes from the world’s second largest garment graveyard, the Atacama Desert. Across the world, up to 73% of textile waste ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Chile, the home of the Atacama Desert, has turned into a symbol of the textile waste crisis and fast fashion, where 39,000 tons of clothes are thrown away every single year. According to the UNECE, 21 billion tons of clothes end up in landfills every year.
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“Besides the challenges with fast fashion, it’s clear that we need to change the way we use and take care of our clothes,” said Vanessa Butani, VP Group Sustainability at Electrolux. “We know from research that extending the life of our clothes by just nine months can reduce the carbon impact, the water impact and the waste produced by 20% to 30%. There are different ways to do this: repair or upcycle old clothes, and air, steam or wash clothes in a way that is more sustainable.”
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The goal is to make clothing last twice as long, with half the environmental impact by 2030. This can be done by modernizing care technology for fabrics, reducing waste and recycling old waste. Electrolux is working on laundry technologies that reduce water and energy usage and make clothes last longer. However, they are hoping to inspire change beyond their own products by showing consumers a way forward to a sustainable future.
For now, they hope to create this collection as an inspiration to consumers. Additionally, to teach people how to best care for their clothes by washing less, steaming more, washing full loads and cleaning clothes at lower temperatures. Switching to liquid detergent from powder and lowering wash temperature alone could save each appliance 50 kilograms of CO2 per year. If more people learn sustainable clothing care practices, that could make a big difference.
Lastly, the Rave Review collection celebrates imperfections through using the texture and character of fabrics to explore fun designs that have dimension and form. The company was only founded in 2017 to make fashion more sustainable, and has already become a symbol for upcycled fashion. They have been featured in Vogue and GucciFest, and been worn by Kylie Jenner and Emma Watson.
Images via Rave Review and Electrolux Group
