Fast-fashion Fallout: Young People in UK Spurred into Sewing

Fast-fashion Fallout: Young People in UK Spurred into Sewing

From jogging outfits to summer dresses, Lea Baecker has stitched together most of her wardrobe herself from inside her London flat, part of a burgeoning number of young amateur seamstresses.

Like many others in the growing horde of sew-it-yourself enthusiasts, she has grown increasingly disillusioned with the retail clothing industry, viewing it as too destructive.

"My main motivation was not having to buy ready-to-wear clothes anymore because I didn't want to support fast fashion," Baecker, 29, told AFP, referring to clothes made and sold cheaply to be thrown away after minimal use.

The doctoral student in neuroscience only started sewing in 2018, beginning with small bags before moving on to clothes, AFP said.

Four years on, she estimates about 80 percent of clothes in her wardrobe are homemade, from pajamas to long fleece coats, as well as jeans made with denim scraps scalped from relatives.

Baecker now buys new clothes "very rarely", she added, wearing one of her self-made long, hand-sewn dresses.

- 'Scale' -

The fashion and textile industry is the third most polluting sector globally after food and construction, accounting for up to 5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2021 report by the World Economic Forum.

Low-cost fashion retailers are regularly criticized for