I’ve always loved how Londoners dress. Whether they’re speed-walking down rainy pavements or huddled together in crowded tube compartments, there’s always multiple intriguing, eccentric outfits on display, and they don’t necessarily come from expensive brands. It’s what makes the city’s population the perfect demographic for new experiments with affordable fashion - especially for students on a tight budget.
That’s why it felt so fitting when I discovered that we could get our hands on some preloved clothes at the UCL Student Centre. Hosted by Sustainable UCL in collaboration with the University of London, the Clothes Swap is essentially a thrift stores with a twist: you can exchange your second-hand clothing for someone else’s, making it both sustainable and completely free of cost. The initiative will run on the first Friday of October, November, December, February, March, and May, either in the UCL Student Centre foyer or the University of London’s Senate House, depending on the month. Just make sure you book a free ticket for your desired date, check the location, and you’re all set.
"Clothes Swaps offer the best of both worlds," Kate Veck, University of London’s Sustainability Officer shares as I browse through the items on display. "You’re reducing the environmental impact of shopping and hopefully learning a bit about the importance of buying second hand, but you’re also saving money. It’s a win-win."
The way it works is extremely simple. First, you hand in your preloved clothes and receive a loyalty card with the number of items mentioned on it. You are then free to browse through what’s available at the Swap Shop - jeans, trousers, dresses, tops, cardigans, even a few accessories - and take home as many items as you brought in.
If you don’t find anything you love, simply keep the loyalty card safe with you and come back on another date. Thanks to an equal number of clothes being taken out and brought in, the Swap Shop’s racks are always changing. Additionally, everything on display on the shop floor has already been quality-checked to make sure there’s no rips or tears.
"Clothes swaps allow you to be more creative with your own individual style," Kate says. "When you go to high street fashion brands, you sometimes find that they are just repeats of each other. It’s quite fun to craft your own style instead, and second-hand finds can help with that."
As we continue our chat at the Swap Shop, a flyer propped up smack in the middle of a table full of folded clothes catches my attention. It reads, "The fashion industry is the second largest consumer of water (2000 gallons for a pair of jeans)". It is a fact you instinctively want to reconfirm, because that just can’t be right, and yet it is, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
And that’s just on the production end, without accounting for the clothes that inevitably get thrown out and replaced with something newer, cooler, more fitting with current trends. Every second, the equivalent of an entire garbage truck worth of textiles is burned or thrown into landfills.
While some of us are simply unaware of these numbers, others still feel like there aren’t enough affordable options. For years now, thrifting has been graining prominence in young people’s fashion choices, and even though it is much more sustainable than buying brand new, its meaning and intention have become disfigured over time. Preloved items are being sold for as high as $300 on online thrift stores under the guise of "nostalgic" and "vintage" fashion, making it unaffordable for the average consumer.
UCL and UoL’s Clothes Swaps come with no such terms and conditions: only the mission to make preloved fashion accessible to students.
"It can be quite hard to engage students in sustainability, but fashion is one area where people are interested and want to know more," Kate admits. "It’s something that’s felt tangibly, because a lot of us like having a varied wardrobe. And now, we’re becoming more and more aware of the impact of what we wear."
I dutifully exchanged three items of my own - the result of a ruthless purge of my wardrobe earlier this month. In hindsight, I had only bought them to fit into one of the internet’s many briefly popular aesthetics, and they didn’t suit me at all. Swapping them for things I’m more likely to use and paying nothing for it feels like a win for both me and the earth.
While I’m leaving the Swap Shop, my brand-new wardrobe upgrades in hand, Kate further adds that they are always looking for student volunteers. It’s a great way to gain some experience managing an on-campus event while also contributing to sustainable fashion. But whether that’s something you can fit into your schedule or not, pay a visit to the Clothes Swap. I left with some unexpected additions to my wardrobe, and you might too.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please reach out to sustainability@london.ac.uk.
