Australians spend more money on new clothing than anyone else

By
July 1, 2024
Raquel Calandra, a month 11 student, experiences tension to keep up with constantly-changing fashion trends.
 
Growing up in the modern era gives you more coverage to those styles as a young person. Social internet feeds are flooded with marketing, product packing, try-on films and celebrity partnerships.
 
“I go to a lot of events and every single time I go away, I’m like, ‘I need a fresh clothing,'” said Calandra, a student at Santa Sabina College in Sydney’s inside north.
 
“It’s regular today. You can’t wear something twice.”
 
Enter ultra-fast style, characterized by perhaps shorter production processes and developments than its predecessor. It’s cheap, it’s accessible — and it’s everyday.
 
“Online, on cars, on properties — it’s always in your face,” said Season 12 student Lucy Gee.

“Styles come and go so fast. I suppose it’s a natural human trait to follow them because [fast style] is so affordable and convenient. “

These high-school students are on a mission to quit fast fashion.

These high school students are attempting to stop wearing quickly. Origin: SBS News

However, this environmentally conscious creation is also aware of the negative effects of their usage practices. Last month, the kids had a moment of judgment.

After realizing that Australians were one of the top consumers of fashion, Gee and a group of Santa Sabina mature students made the decision to open a pre-loved apparel store.
“We [realized] we can buy really cheap garments, just like quick fashion, and we can even be really, really easy,” Gee said.

The factory, Santa Style, is today a permanent fixture on campus, opened two lunchtimes a year. Additionally, the kids operate an Instagram page and an online business.

With the cost of living crisis before of brain, they decided to cover costs at $20 — including designer label goods like as Zimmermann, Aje, and Carla Zampatti.
 
Someone else may use anything you’re not going to use once more, according to the law. We’re certainly wasting items. [And] I can actually afford things here rather than buying a dress for $100 and wearing it once,” Calandra said.
 
After Gee and other senior kids student, Calandra and other student Emma Wong, who is also in Season 11, will get over activities the following year.
 
Wong has been making visits to different schools in the area this quarter to spread the concept.

“They don’t need to be this massive corporation … [you can] really start off small to make a massive impact,” she said.

Australians revealed as country’s biggest style users

Australia has now overtaken the United States as the world’s biggest buyer of clothes, shoes and carriers, on a per capita foundation, according to research from the Australia Institute. The majority of this is in-city rapid style waste.

The study, published last quarter, found that the average American gets around 56 new things each month, and the average price of those things is $13 — far lower than the United Kingdom, the US, Japan, and Brazil.

Australia has overtaken the US as the world's biggest consumers of clothes, shoes and bags, on a per capita basis.

Australia has overtaken the US as the country’s biggest buyer of clothes, shoes and sacks, on a per capita basis. Origin: SBS News

More than 200,000 tons of fabric are disposed of in Australia each month, which is the equivalent of about four Sydney Harbour Bridges.

Nina Gbor, round market and spend program director at the Australia Institute, said an extra 100,000 kilograms are exported to the Global South.

“We shouldn’t be sending plastic-based clothing to other nations because it pollutes their natural resources,” the statement read. We may lessen that at the source and therefore recycle and reuse the product, she said.

An economy on see

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is attempting to address this through a new action that will kick off on Monday.
 
Plibersek, who spoke earlier this month at the project’s launch event in Sydney, stated that reducing clothes use was “an extraordinary problem for us as a land.”

“It’s a really significant climate problem, especially as we’re seeing a very high amount of pretty low-cost style,” she said.

The average cost of new clothing items purchased in Australia is $13.

The average cost of brand-new clothing in Australia is$ 13. Origin: SBS News

The goal of the program, known as Seamless, is to make curvature by 2030 by transforming the means clothing is made, used, reused, and recovered in Australia.

While it is n’t compulsory, 62 companies have signed on in the 12 months since the scheme was announced, including Big W, Cotton On, David Jones, Lorna Jane, Rip Curl, RM Williams, Sussan Group, and The Iconic.
Member businesses may be required to give a four-cent charge for each brand-new item on the market starting on July 1.

The funds will be used to fund initiatives and teaching for businesses that promote green product designs, reduce waste, and teach consumers.

Gbor claimed this was a good place to start, but that product behavior could be changed by the levy.
“It’s very encouraging to see that the government is doing something about this country’s clothing waste, but it’s sadly not enough. We need [the tax to be] more like 50 cents per gown,” she said.
 
Gbor claimed that a moratorium on the trade of textile waste could also be addressed. She wants Australia to ad a similar policy to France, which wants to impose a 10 euro ($16) tax on each ultra-smart fashion item sold in the nation and forbid advertising for such items.

We want to duty these fast-paced companies and put that money toward American companies that are producing goods according to circular principles, according to Gbor.

Sustainability then a ‘consumer motion’

According to Eloise Zoppos, director of research and engagement at Monash Business School’s American Consumer and Retail Studies, American consumers of all ages are extremely taking into account the social and environmental impacts of their acquisitions.
 
She said conservation is no longer a fad, but a buyer movement.
 
“People are looking for new and different ways to engage in green behaviors and definitely shop according to their ideals, according to what we’re finding, both in our studies and in the larger pattern across Australia and globally, particularly [amid] the cost of living problems,” she said.

“More and more people are shopping for used or pre-owned items.”

The same thing is happening in the modern world. A growing number of content developers are voicing opposition to quick clothing, despite frequently being criticized for promoting a culture of overconsumption.
Maggie Zhou, a Melbourne-based poet and blogger, is one of them.

She made the decision to alter her Instagram page to one that promoted delayed fashion in 2019.

A woman taking a blue shirt out of a closet.

One growing wave of information authors is Maggie Zhou, who is one of the many who are uniting against quick fashion, is. Origin: SBS News

“Prior to that, I had been working with rapid fashion brands, accepting brilliant products, wearing their fresh clothing,” Zhou said.

“It was incredibly fun, bright, and attractive, but it eventually left a bad taste in my mouth.” According to Zhou, while rapid style still dominates the celebrity market, there has made significant progress.

“In Australia, there is still a smaller pool of us, but certainly with the increase of TikTok, I’ve been seeing so many artistic people show off their up-cycling apparel, and how they go op-shopping. I think it’s growing, but growing quite carefully. “

‘Wear the clothes that are in your wardrobe’

Most of the clothing in Zhou’s attire are second-hand.
 
“I go to local op shops [and] consignment stores. And when I do purchase fresh things, I really try to be aware of it. That requires conducting research on the businesses and making a final decision.
 
“It can be difficult. There are so many fashions out there, but I really try to cut back on my consumption and only purchase what is needed.”
 
Zhou’s quantity one suggestion for those seeking to be more green?
 
“Wear the clothes that are in your outfit,” she said.

“Many of us overlook things we have,” says the statement. “Re-wear the clothing you already have, maintenance for them, and put on as much as you can.”

Boro is a staunch supporter of updating our current possessions.
 
Re-styling refers to the practice of wearing one gown in different way. Through layering and accessorizing, she said, “you can use your clothes for more in different way.”
 
“You can have a brand-new clothing without purchasing something fresh.”
 
She claimed that closet transfers are another way to update your wardrobe.

Even though it’s not entirely new, you still get that serotonin hit. “It’s searching for gratis and it’s diverting garments from going to waste.”

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