Ethical Fashion keeps garments from landfill

BALLARAT Ethical Fashion Festival presents a week of events on how to re-use, re-style, re-purpose and re-wear clothing.

BEFF which aims to raise awareness about the ethical and environmental cost of our dominant throwaway textile culture.

Clare Press, Vogue Australia’s Sustainability Editor-at-Large is the Keynote speaker at the festival’s launch at Art Gallery of Ballarat.

A staggering number of clothes produced are worn and then discarded after only a few wears, said La Vergne Lehmann, Executive Officer, Grampians Central West Waste & Resource Recovery Group, organiser of the festival.

“This makes the textile industry a very important issue to focus on with the need to reduce waste across all aspects of our lives,” Ms Lehmann said.

“From our perspective as a waste and recovery organisation, the festival is about reducing the amount of clothing that ends up in landfill.”

Mending and upcycling classes, op shop style workshops, vintage treasure’s walking tours and more are on offer throughout the week in Ballarat, Maryborough and Creswick.

Ms Lehmann said the festival will suggest and demonstrate options on how to think differently about what you purchase and what you wear.

“If clothing is so cheap that it is easily discarded so quickly, it is also worth considering the garment’s origin and what workers are paid to produce it,” she said.

Ballarat Ethical Fashion Festival runs from Saturday, 17 August to Saturday, 24 August.

The festival launch is at McCain Annexe, Art Gallery of Ballarat, 40 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat on Saturday, 17 August at 1.30pm.

Tickets to all events are limited, event timetable and bookings at ballaratethicalfashion.com.au.