Imperfectly Perfect launches in Sustainable Fashion Week

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity is supporting Sustainable Fashion Week from 20-29^th September. With 13 charity shops across Buckinghamshire and a new electric van to move items around the county, the Charity is firmly committed to supporting sustainable living. Imperfectly Perfect is a new campaign which promotes those clothes which have small fixable flaws. This week the retail division is launching Imperfectly Perfect across all 13 of its shops. There is point of sale including new posters and tags for the clothes to support the launch.

Head of Retail Lily Caswell says “These pre-loved items have small imperfections, but we think they’re too lovely not to be worn again. We have adjusted our pricing to reflect that they will need a little bit of work to make them wearable again. A cashmere jumper may have a small hole, but a needle and thread are all you need to fix it and give it a new lease of life.”

“This project is part of our role in the circular fashion movement, to keep clothes being worn for longer rather than going to landfill.”

The concept of throw-away fashion should be consigned to the dustbin of history. The statistics around the production of clothes clearly demonstrates the need for change: only 13% of clothing is recycled, the average garment is only worn ten times before it is disposed of and the average life of a garment is only 3.3 years.

According to Sustainable Fashion Week if we repair a garment, it is likely to be kept in use for another 1.3 years and extending the life of a garment reduces its environmental impact by 20-30%.

In the last year, Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity shops saved around 733 tonnes of garments from landfill and Imperfectly Perfect will save more items so that they can continue to be worn. The  campaign reinforces the theme for this year’s Sustainable Fashion Week which is The Power of Repair.

In our Princes Risborough shop we have in our window an original Singer 1970’s Sewing Machine. This is complete with original cabinet and instructions, in almost new condition. It’s been regularly serviced and works beautifully! This was spotted and picked up from a local recycling centre.

Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity shops have themed windows throughout the week to support Sustainable Fashion Week. All donations are welcome at all of our shops across Buckinghamshire throughout the year. The photos are from our shops in Buckingham, Haddenham and Princes Risborough for windows specially created for Sustainable Fashion Week.