How To Participate In The 30 Wears Campaign

The slow fashion movement has taken the world by storm.

The average woman keeps a piece of clothing in her closet for five weeks before cycling through it. This is fast fashion: a culture of disposable clothing. A trend of quantity over quality. 

It’s also a deliberate, oppressive, economic system. Around the world an estimated 2% of workers in the fashion industry are paid below a living wage. It’s a business model that produces clothes at extremely low prices in order for brands to constantly push new products and trends. Because of this, more than a billion pounds of unwanted clothes goes to the landfill every year.

What’s even more, the fashion industry is responsible for 5% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. 

3.4 billion workers involved in the fashion and textile industries are subject to abuses of human rights, dangerous work conditions, unlivable wages, and contributes to the second largest polluter of clean water: this is fast fashion.

But the revolution in slow fashion is changing our relationship to clothing. The goal is simple: re-evaluate your approach to buying and owning clothes. Change the culture within the fashion industry so clothes aren’t meant to be disposable but worn for a lifetime.  

Old values are being replaced by new ideals: ethical, sustainably-produced clothing that lasts for years. And at its heart is a change in not only the clothes you buy, but where you shop. It’s easy to pick up the latest fashion trends at big-name brands, but the human and environmental cost of making those clothes just isn’t worth it. 

It’s about valuing quality over quantity in your closet the next time you buy a piece of clothing.  This is why RoHo’s products are made to last a lifetime.  

Today, we challenge you to take part in the 30 Wears Campaign, an invitation to ask yourself, “Will I wear this 30 times?” before you buy a piece of clothing. If the answer is no, take a few days to consider if you really need this item.

Don’t buy clothes you know you’ll only wear once or twice. Pick items you know are versatile and can be styled with the clothes you already have. Choose clothes you know won’t fall out of trend, because they’re timeless. 

The 30 Wears Campaign, created by Livia Firth, the founder of Eco Age (a company that certifies brands for sustainability), isn’t about purging your closet or sacrificing style. It’s a challenge to redefine our relationship to clothing. To ask, will the environmental, social, and financial cost it takes to produce this piece of clothing be worth my wear? Is this something I really need? 

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Firth urges us to think before we buy. “If the answer is yes, then buy it. But you'd be surprised how many times you say no."

The challenge is simple, but its impact is huge. From celebrities, influencers, and the average woman, consumers everywhere have adopted this movement. In 2015 Emma Watson signed up for the Green Carpet Challenge, where every single piece of her outfit was sustainably produced.

Similarly, Instagram bloggers such as Kat (@consciousnchic) have made it their mission to spread the word and celebrate the power of slow fashion. She is dedicated to causes like women’s rights issues and labor trafficking and exemplifies a lifestyle free of fast fashion.

This campaign helps to bring awareness to the important question of who actually pays the price for the cheap clothes we buy.  Every piece of clothing tells a story. And one that reveals this much harm, to people and to our Earth, is no longer a viable option for us. The workers who make our clothes are not afforded the same privileges and rights to those who wear the clothes. Now, equity and ethical products in the fashion industry have moved into the mainstream. And it’s about time.

We here at RoHo are challenging ourselves and you to commit to buying things that can be worn 30 times or more. RoHo’s founder, Caleigh Hernandez, is still wearing the original pair of RoHo sandals she bought in East Africa from a craft market over 6 years ago. How many wears can you get out of your RoHo products and everything else you buy?