Had it with throwaway, fast fashion?
'Flossie and the Beach Cleaners' are holding a designer label Swap Shop at 2.30pm on Saturday, March 21 at The National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire.
Refresh your wardrobe while sipping complimentary Prosecco or a soft drink – all in the knowledge that you are not contributing to fashion waste.
‘Flossie and the Beach Cleaners’ saw the problem of fast fashion first hand while on a plastic pollution trip to Indonesia in 2019, where 13-year-old environmental activist Flossie Donnelly and her mother Harriet witnessed the Citarum River, a ‘fizzing’ waterway that was an unnatural colour thanks to poisonous dye pumped into the water from over 200 local factories.
The millions of people that live by this stretch of the Citarum River in West Java commonly contract rashes or, more gravely, cancer due to the high levels of poison dumped by the factories in their water source.
Local people bathe and wash their clothes in the river, as well as using the water for cooking. Children play in this toxic water. The good news is due to the Indonesian army policing the river and other NGO groups cleaning the river in the area, that the river will be clean again in seven years.
"We also know that 80,000 tonnes of textiles went to landfill in Ireland in 2018," organisers say. "We are a throw away nation – it’s time to change our mentality with regards to fast fashion.
"With this in mind, we wanted to make this swap shop for everyone but especially focus on 'Ladies What Lunch' - these are lovely ladies who do not avail of fast fashion but they do love to regularly buy expensive fashion.
"At the Swap Shop we will also have a High Street rail, the only proviso we have is that your gorgeous outfit has been washed/dry cleaned or it may be refused at the door!
"There will be a changing room for trying on your new gem. There will also be lovely TY students walking around modelling outfits as well as Flossie herself modelling the odd number!"