UNTOLD STORIES OF GARMENTS
Sustainability! I come across this word and I scroll, swipe or turn to next. Do I realise depth of this word? Do I understand the need of the hour?
How many times do we all, in fact, take the triviality and see it under a magnifying glass? Are drastic climatic changes trivial or just not “large” enough?
‘What I need’ is not a constant and perhaps, the needs of today won’t be the same as the needs of tomorrow. To explain this further, I would like to quote the United Nations general assembly 1986 definition for sustainable development:
“Sustainable development is the conscious and judicious use of resources that meet the need of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainability is often looked as an ‘call for action’ whereas I believe it should rather be the basis of a living — deeply embedded in culture and human life.
And what brings me to make this my current discourse? Well, I owe credit to the eye-opening views on sustainability that I was fortunate to experience in person. It all began with two contrasting views of sustainability, a difference that made all the difference.
Two friends, one from Glasgow and one from Sweden spent many noons conversing about ideal life choices: What truly is a conscious choice? When do we know how to make it? How do we choose?
The way the conversations led on was very interesting as all of us had a distinct opinion on sustainability, framed by individual context — the world around us. The ethnic diversity also contributed in the formulation of these ideas and approaches regarding sustainability.
The conscious choices about what is needed and what is wanted, were staunch, as though etched like a tattoo on each of us. So I decided to hop onto the bandwagon and carve my own definition for sustenance. For me the journey starts with what I devote most of my time to: textiles.
I had always known that the textile industry was responsible for a huge amount of waste. But I did what was easy — turned a blind eye to it.
During my time in Japan, I would be overwhelmed to see the amount of clothes available in the market while cruising downtown. Knowing the backstory, was one part of the pain I felt but seeing them spill out of the racks in a shopping frenzy was a pit in my stomach. Behind these trendy outfits that people hoard in their wardrobes is a dark truth — the labour intensive market of developing countries like our very own. I hit me when I starting feeling guilty, and partly responsible for this arrangement.
And one day I was triggered for real change. At this point, I needed a warm jacket regardless of what I knew or did not, about what goes inside making a single piece. But it was going to be different this time, I was going to make a thoughtful, conscious, sustainable choice. I intended to buy just one and my friend suggested that we should to go to the second-hand market for the same.
To me, that sounded like I would need a surplus of courage. So I reinforced the thought I put in the first place — “Remember, it is choice I’ve made: a conscious, sustainable one!” I said that to myself and went ahead.
That was the first time I ever went to a second hands shop. I hated it. The first thing that came to my mind was: “Somebody must have died in it.” It smelled of sweat and dust. It made my skin crawl. I was in the shop only because my friends wanted to be in it.
Just a few moments later, I saw my friend of mine picking out clothes, and for every piece that she thought would suit me, she squeaked in excitement! She imagined me wearing it, with one arm that had been inked all over to complete the look! I looked at her for a second, and surprisingly it made me laugh. I thought it was a good way to pass my time here as I did not fancy the clothing anyway.
Following her entertainment scheme, now I started picking out clothes that would suit my friend, whilst started imagining it on her. I fell in love with this activity and we did it for so many more clothes. Every time I would pick out something I would imagine a look for her and give a complete backstory of how the girl who owned it would have looked and how she would have worn this. Gradually, every piece of garment became a story, as if narrating a tale for itself.
Now, I really did not think of it as someone died in it. Instead, I thought of a someone, who accomplished their life long goal in It. It changed my perspective on second hand clothing. Soon, I transitioned from being a hater, to a propagator. Not only did I find the correct jacket for me, but I also feel really happy about the purchase. As a textile design student, besides the ethical reasons, I now want to put a soul in a piece of clothing.
