Wabi sabi time has arrived

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Rethinking the way we live, work and play is happening as we adapt to the uncertainty and profound changes coming down the line with coronavirus. We can calm ourselves by focusing energy on living with creativity, simplicity and integrity, rather than worrying about distant unknowable possibilities.

Wabi sabi is a gentle approach to life embedded within Japanese culture that has its roots in Zen philosophy. As I (Jane Milburn) read more about wabi sabi during lockdown, it struck me as a way of living in tune with nature rather than seeking to control, manage and exploit it.

Jane Milburn wearing garments made from natural fibres coloured by leaves and bark. Photo by Patria Jannides.

At a time when we need to be adaptive and resourceful, wabi sabi is a salve that enables us to find beauty in what is around us, in all its imperfection and impermanence.

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About making sustainable choices

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Slow Clothing is about making choices with what we wear, so that we live lightly and sustainably through our everyday actions. Making choices focused on for health and wellbeing rather than status and looks. Dressing in our own style for comfort and ease, not because we think we should look a certain way.

The Australian Curriculum includes sustainability as a cross-curriculum priority that aims to see students participating critically and acting creatively in determining more sustainable ways of living.

It was therefore wonderful to launch Slow Clothing in Western Australia in the fabulous school setting of Chisholm Catholic College, Bedford, with home economics teachers Niari Purdy and Nikki Singleton, Chisholm students and other teachers who had travelled from other parts of  WA.

We had fun sharing conversations about sustainable choices and actions, creative upcycling ideas and techniques that extend the life of existing clothing and textiles. My own way to do that, is to recreate denim jeans into a pinafore. There are countless other ways, including simply buying good quality and mending when required.
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Rethinking clothing culture

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By Jane Milburn Textile Beat founder and sustainability consultant

Textile Beat founder Jane Milburn clothed in wool garments given a second life using eco-dye. Photo by Ele Cook

Textile Beat founder Jane Milburn clothed in wool garments given a second life using eco-dye. Photo by Ele Cook

My campaign on clothing waste has been a lifetime in the making. It began as a child learning hand-making skills and continued as a student upcycling big old dresses and thrifted finds.

I made many of my clothes for decades then rediscovered op shops in 2011 after a Fashion for Flood fundraiser. I began visiting op shops and particularly seeking out natural-fibre garments – wool jumpers with a hole, linen shirts with a missing button. The waste of resources troubled me because I grew up on a farm and have an agricultural science degree. What was happening to our clothing culture I wondered?

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Engage in slow clothing

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There is a huge excess of clothing in society due to the transformational shift in the way we buy, use and dispose of our garments these days, which is leaving us less engaged and wasteful.

We are buying up to four times more clothes than we did two decades ago, exploiting people and resources as well as creating environmental problems because of the trend towards synthetic clothes derived from petroleum.

We need to think more about whether we need new clothing, then choose to buy quality, natural, local and just a few.

Alternatively, we can get creative and learn to care, repair, adapt and revive existing clothing.

The Slow Clothing Manifesto is a summary of ways to thrive in a material world. Be more conscious about our clothing, in the same way we have become conscious of our food.

Slow clothing manifesto

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The Slow Clothing Project 2016

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Jane MilburnAfter more than a decade of ‘disposable’ fast fashion, there’s growing interest in ethical and sustainable clothing with a good story to tell.

The Slow Clothing Project is about people choosing to make or upcycle their own clothes – read our maker stories here.

The Slow Clothing Project aims to spark a national conversation about clothing use and reuse by creating a digital collection of stories and garments handmade by local makers. The focus is on natural fibres, textile reuse and making our own, where possible. The garments – made between February to November – each tell a different story about mindful and sustainable resource. These stories reflect 10 actions to enable us to thrive in a material world. Continue Reading →

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