On the 28th of October 2022, the very first sustainable fashion talks took place in Budapest by Mynalabel (sustainable and fashion brand, where I am founder and designer for 3 years) and with collaboration by Awear.Store-Hungary (a multibrand of sustainable fashion).
Together, as owners of sustainable fashion brands, we felt a great need to start a conversation and open up questions that nurture many.
Our talks were held in @tomaspiars Art Salon Contemporary. I couldn’t imagine a better place to feature my collection. Tomasz’s gallery is very inspiring, where every step at the way you are experiencing art in different ways, asking yourself questions, and taking your thoughts and self-expression to a different level. This is exactly what we wanted to achieve with our talks – to discuss different perspectives on sustainability in fashion, to think deeply about how we see this coming in favor of our planet and future generations. “
Meeting curious people who are willing to promote a great purpose, whatever that is, is always inspiring and generates great profits, because you learn from each other, and that is a huge win.
With this in mind, Mynalabel and Awear organized an event that aimed to inspire others and organically spread awareness of sustainable fashion in Hungary.
Conscious fashion is still not very popular in Hungary, awareness is low, and there is little communication from the media.
So, what were our topics? What were the questions, and if we managed to get to any conclusions?
There is so much information on the internet where you can find out what is sustainable fashion and what to look at, so wanted to focus and share with you my thoughts and the questions we received during the event.
There are many different ways of approaching the topic that you can learn from to become more sustainable and decide where you stand – thinking about what you buy, knowing which philosophies you are supporting through your purchases, and also asking yourself if you are really going to wear that new piece to the extent that it was worth being made.
To start off with a great(!) and probably the most sustainable known solution that popped up during the talks was clothing swapping and second hand. It’s not only the pieces you get that give you a new life, but also the ones you give away.
The only problem with buying secondhand is that we don’t change our shopping behavior – and with full hands, we stuck up a huge amount of clothing to take home. It is definitely harder to learn the importance of quality over quantity.
Take the time to really think about whether the pieces suit your style and you can see yourself wearing them for a long time.
And here we come to our next topic: quality is key here and what is the definition of quality?
We’ve talked about why natural fibers are so important and which materials are the most sustainable?
First of all, the most sustainable solutions are biodegradable fibers. There are only environmentally friendly materials when they are naturally dyed, which is a very important detail and why certified materials are interesting to mention.
The most sustainable fibers are tencel, hemp, lotus, organic cotton, or merino wool.
Remember – only apparel that is 100% can be recycled because there is no technology at the moment to separate blended fibers (mixed materials) at scale. This means turn away from pieces that are, for example, 80% cotton, 20% wool, or anything else.
Every little detail leads to a higher price for sustainable garments. Few people were concerned about where the price came from. As a designer, I can tell you that every little detail counts: from paying for certified material (that can ensure you about the quality, no chemicals involved, and fairly made), local production, low quantity production, MOQ level for materials, or even made to order ( is even more expensive). Apart from this, sustainable brands should take care of the eco-friendly stationery and packaging, which are also more expensive.
In these times of heavy consumption, we got lost and sped up to maximum, without thinking about what is most important in life, and the values got weaker in the process.
There is another very important question that I had to ask myself personally as a business owner! In those heavy times of economic decline, are we ready enough to participate in purchasing quality at a higher price and what are the challenges for sustainable fashion for the upcoming years?
My point of view in my next blog post.
Justyna Łysak-Szilagyi,
Founder & Designer of Mynalabel
The Sustainable Talk 