Anne Teräväinen
A surprising number of people think that after hours of teasing, they deserve to go shopping, at any price, writes fashion journalist Anne Teräväinen.
imago sport, All Over Press
Company restructuring! Bankruptcy! The news of Finnish fashion brands is not uplifting. In recent weeks, the beloved design brand Haló has announced that it will stop. Nosh, known from the beginning for clothing parties, said that he is applying for a company restructuring.
More and more boutiques have closed their doors and beloved brands are selling their empty stocks at ridiculous prices. In pursuit of cheap prices, stocks may be depleted, but consumers who make purchases only at the last minute will no longer save a fashion brand in trouble. No entrepreneur makes decisions about his future on the spur of the moment. In most cases, the news of termination or bankruptcy is based on months, even years, of pain and anxiety.
At the same time, many people declare that they have made a New Year’s resolution and are not going to buy new clothes all year in the name of ecology. Some participate in the five-clothes year challenge known from social media. Its idea is to reduce fashion purchases to five per year. Often this decision concerns clothes, shoes and accessories that are considered luxury goods. Instead, you may be allowed to go to underwear and sock stores, everyone needs them by force.
Julia Thurén is behind the five-clothes year challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to guide fellow shoppers to buy less and better. Many who took part in the challenge have started paying particular attention to the quality of their purchases, knowingly leaving out buying fast fashion and focusing on sustainable brands and clothes that you can see wearing for years to come.
If you don’t see the picture, look at it from here.
The average Finn buys 40 clothes a year, it turns out Planetary wardrobe from the book (Gummerus, 2024). For the book, it was also determined that the limit of sustainable consumption would be seven items of clothing, so in that sense the challenge also has its point.
Hey, great for you if not shopping revitalizes your own finances and makes you look at the contents of your wardrobe in a new way. When you don’t buy new, you may find surprisingly good, new-looking combinations in your own old clothes, and there is no need for new clothes in that sense either.
However, not buying society, the Finnish economy or especially Finnish fashion will not revive it.
Helsingin Sanomat in an opinion piece an entrepreneur in the clothing industry criticizes the Five Clothes Year challenge as an oppressor for the Finnish clothing industry. However, the problem is not in the challenge of directing better consumption. Also Thurén’s and Planetary wardrobe account Aku Varamäki equivalent to writing was published.
If you don’t see the picture, look at it from here.
If these five purchases are not considered carefully and the few purchases are made from international fast fashion junk or Chinese stores, not a good swing. In a country the size of Finland, the fashion industry cannot bear that individuals are not buying or are buying elsewhere.
Problematically, many people get lost shopping in discount stores when they need to get something new. A surprising number of people think that after hours of teasing, they deserve to shop, at any price.
imago sport, All Over Press
Buying fast fashion has its price, which is often much more than the price tag of the product itself shows. You don’t know where the product’s materials come from, who made it and under what conditions. A new shirt can cause a rash or look like garbage after the second use.
If, on the other hand, you bought from a domestic instead of a foreign one, you would support the Finnish economy and Finnish jobs, and you would not end up with poison-saturated rags.
The fashion industry pollutes a lot, so reducing the purchase of new clothes is probably in order for everyone. According to research by the Hot or Cool Institute, an annual purchase rate of five items of clothing would help limit the disadvantages of the clothing industry to a sustainable level worldwide, as Thurén and Varamäki’s writing says.
If you feel like shopping, shop better. Instead of dozens of clothes bought on the spur of the moment, you should invest in quality – buy one good one rather than ten bad ones. Now you can get any kind of fashion online for a ridiculous price, whereas before you had to go to the store and go to the store.
If every Finn, or even half of Finns, bought five pieces of clothing a year from Finnish companies, it could strangely revive the distressed Finnish fashion industry. Five clothes or even two!
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A quick guide to better fashion shopping
Buy from responsible domestic brands. This way you support Finnish jobs at the same time.
Before making a purchase decision, think about at least five situations in which you could use the garment in question. This is how you ensure that the new purchase is not “disposable”.
Favor timeless designs, your favorite color and clothes that simply suit your style. These clothes will probably get the most use.