Acting in a Climate Emergency is not heroic, its primal. It doesn’t set us above or apart, it brings us together.
The Garment Streak (@garmentstreak) is a collaborative Instagram performance artwork that was launched by artist @ferproduction and stylist @labelleetlegourmet in the summer of 2019 to challenge Fast Fashion as a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
The girls began posting selfies every 24 hours each wearing one piece of clothing that they already owned, over and again. Instead of feeling shame for being seen more than once in the same garment, they awarded themselves ‘streak points’ every time they did (similar to Snapchat streak points.)
The performance was prompted by Instagram culture which often shames people for being seen wearing the same garment more than once. This culture is a key driver of Fast Fashion which pumps out more greenhouse gas emissions than the aviation and shipping industries – combined, and is the highest contributor to microplastic waste in the ocean. Fast Fashion brands make particular appeal to young girls in developed countries but their production is anti-feminist and exploits women and children in the global south the most. Perhaps the greatest irony is that Fast Fashion promises identity through consuming, but actually threatens our existence. You can’t have identity if you don’t have existence
Since its beginning, The Garment Streak performance has grown. A group of ‘streakers’ performed their slow fashion manifesto (see below) in a store front in Notting Hill. Then in February this year, they found their way into London Kids Fashion Week. Models walked the critiquing message printed across a line of oversized T-shirts to symbolise the burden of climate activism that many children are picking up in place of appropriate leadership from governing adults. The Garment Streak has now launched a line of sustainable and ethical Tees and Jumpers available here: https://ferproduction.teemill.com/ where all profits are fed back into the project.
THE GARMENT STREAK MANIFESTO
THE ROLE OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY IS TO INSPIRE US HOW TO DRESS FOR THE TIMES WE ARE IN
BUT HOW CAN THEY DO THAT IF THEY CANNOT EVEN DISCERN THE TIMES WE ARE IN?
THE TIMES ARE CLIMATE EMERGENCY
THE OCCASION IS CLIMATE EMERGENCY
DRESS FOR THE OCCASION
THE DRESS CODE IS SLOW FASHION
FAST FASHION IS OUT OF THE CODE
THE GOOD THING ABOUT A SLOW WARDROBE IS THAT YOU ALREADY OWN IT
SLOW WARDROBES ARE THE ONLY GARB FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO NOT BE EXTINCT
JOIN THE @GARMENTSTREAK WATCH OUR VIDEO: