By Lily Heath
With eight years of experience in vintage fashion, Thanet resident Sarah Clarke is due to run a sustainable and affordable fashion event in Broadstairs this weekend.
Sarah, 24, started her fashion fantasies as a child, rebelling against her parents’ requests of wearing a jacket, in which she would reply, “it doesn’t go with my outfit!”.
Sarah relates her music taste to her wardrobe, using the bands, ‘The Cure’ and ‘Suede’ as inspiration for what she should wear next. After leaving school and entering the fashion industry, it was the beginning of the search for different styles, such as 90’s grunge and gothic pieces, while also drawing inspiration from fashion icons like Paris Hilton, leading the early 2000’s pop culture and fashion decade.
At the early age of 16, Sarah was running her own business, partnering with a range of vintage clothing brands and businesses along the way and curating a rare selection of vintage pieces which will be sold in this weekend’s event.
She said: “I’ve organised this event alongside my girlfriend Sapphire to help promote sustainability in fashion, hopefully increasing the awareness of slow fashion and getting more people interested in it.
“Fast fashion is responsible for 10% of the worlds CO2 emissions and is notorious for its use of sweatshops and child labour, there’s nothing ethical about it.
“The clothes made in these factories are often of poor quality so make up a huge percentage of the 92 million tonnes of clothes that end up in landfills each year. Research shows this is the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ending up on a landfill site every one second.”
Sarah and Sapphire’s vintage clothes fair will be on Saturday (April 15) at the Sarah Thorne Theatre in Broadstairs, open from 11am until 5pm. The event will be stocked full of distinctive items ranging from the 1960s – 2000s with an overflow of various styles. The event will also have sizes XXS-XXXXL, creating an inclusive atmosphere.
Complimentary wine will be served for the first to arrive whilst playing everyone’s favourite throwback hits!
What is slow fashion?
We often hear the term, ‘Fast fashion’, the phrase linked to inexpensive clothing brands, but what is slow fashion? Slow fashion is quite literally the opposite of fast fashion. It curates respect for the people who work for the brand, the environment and animals.
Slow fashion expels overproduction and overconsumption and means an awareness and approach to fashion that considers the processes and resources required to make clothing. It advocates for buying better-quality garments that will last longer, reducing consumption.
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