Next Clothes-Wise events:

The Clothes-Wise project aims to:

  • share information about the clothing and textile industry and its impact on the climate and environment, so that consumers can make informed choices
  • support people to learn the skills they need, making the clothing that they love the most ,last for longer.
  • make people aware of the wider aims of Transition Chesterfield and to reach out to other organisations that share our values.

The fashion and textile industry is responsible for around 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as being a big polluter of soil, water and atmosphere. There are issues with worker’s rights (the industry employs around 60 million people worldwide), and animal rights.

As we know, “Fast Fashion” is on the rise, with people being encouraged to buy more and more clothing that is cheap, often made from poor quality fabric (mostly originating from oil) and not made to last for very long. A startling 30% of clothing in our wardrobes is never actually worn! Discarded clothing is often put straight into the bin and not re-cycled, or it can be donated to charity shops where, if it’s not sold, it will be sent for rags, landfill or incineration. Man-made fibres such as polyester do not biodegrade easily, and during washing can shed large quantities of micro-plastics into water systems.

The biggest difference we can all make is simply to buy less! So that’s where traditional skills with a simple needle and thread can be useful. Our volunteers want to show people how to creatively mend, alter and up-cycle clothes, sharing skills and having fun along the way.

We’ll hold skill-share events at the Hub in Chesterfield, as advertised in the Newsletter and on social media, plus we’ll take part in Sustainable Fashion Week (September 27th to October 5th 2025) by holding an “Alternative Catwalk” event. We’re working on community involvement projects to get people talking about clothing and would like to research people’s buying habits and stories about the clothing they’ve most cherished.

Please contact network@transitionchesterfiel.org.uk if you’d like to get involved, and please share any photos of your up-cycled projects!