Charlotte Pawle goes to an ethical fashion day at the V&A and finds out about 'swishing'.

How many of us guiltily skulk around Primark or indulge in a pair of Nike trainers? How many of us can call ourselves truly ethical when it comes to clothes shopping? These are some of the problems that the ethical fashion day at the V&A addressed by trying to reach out to consumers, media and in particular the next generation of designers.

The day kicked off with a ‘swishing’ party where keen shoppers queued up for a good half hour to put their unwanted attire into a well organised room of clothes and accessories. They could then go on the prowl to see what was on offer but not before Lucy Shay of Futerro explained the ethics behind it.

Firstly, she told us that we throw away two million tons of clothes a year. Six percent of these go to landfill sites and contain substances that cause pollution. Secondly, she explained that we are using three times the amount of resources than the planet can produce. Her final point was that by swishing we are reducing our carbon footprint, making it a guilt free and affordable way to expand your wardrobe.

The amount of people trying to get their hands on a limited amount of goods made me a bit nervous. However it ended up working well. We are, after all, such a gracious and polite nation – it was more a ‘no no after you’ situation than the tearing out of hair that I expected. Now all we need to do is make swishing parties among our friends the next big thing.

Next stop was the style surgery. Here we were shown how to restyle our wardrobes without buying anything but a few safety pins and a brooch. One of the founders of The Ethical Fashion Forum showed us how, after she delved deeper into the subject of ethical fashion itself. The main thing we can take from this workshop is that instead of buying into fast, throw away fashion, we can take things we already have in our wardrobes and make them into something entirely new, original and stylish. By turning it upside down and pinning it at the shoulder, she turned a tired old skirt into a slick evening top. Apparently it’s all about draping, so go out and get yourself a manakin or a friend who doesn’t mind being poked with pins and have a go.

One of the highlights of the day was The Ethical Fashion on the High Street debate led by Caryn Franklin featuring Katherine E Hamnnett, Safia Minney, Lucy Siegle and Mo Tomaney. They tackled the problem of there being too much production and consumption of fast high street fashion, leading to longer hours for factory workers.

So what can we do? Buy clothes that will last longer, research into the supply chain of what we are buying and rather than boycotting a brand, write a letter to the CEO explaining that you are concerned about their ethical impact. Other highlights included being shown how to reinvent old clothes with a bit of stitching and trimming and the fashion show, which proved that ethical fashion has moved a long way from beige jumpers and tie-dye sack dresses. Junky Styling is one label to watch out for.

For those of us who haven’t already, it’s time to get creative. It’s an excuse to have a party, a way to look good while spending very little and an easy way of creating an individual style that will make our personalities shine. There will be no more using the credit crunch as an excuse for buying fast fashion clothing. We can all do our part in saving the planet and look bloody good in the process!

Find out more about swishing here.