Young people around the world are swapping clothes to save the environment

Fast fashion is out and sustainability is in, according to new research from Concordia University that find 18- to 35-year-olds are swapping clothes "on a large scale."

"When we look at the environmental motivation, swapping is definitely a sustainable practice," said Farah Armouch, one of the study's authors. "You're extending the lifespan of an item instead of it being thrown in the landfill...There's definitely this environmental impact. People want to engage in those more sustainable practices and be environmentally friendly."

In fact, the research finds that clothing swaps have changed from an individual activity to a collective practice -- and one that also has economic impacts on those involved.

"We're revolutionizing the way people are engaging with the fashion industry," Armouch explains. "We're coming up with these new ways and practices that are being spread globally around the world that are really changing how we consume and how we think of fashion."

She points out there are four main motivations for people to swap clothes:

1. Economic motivation: it's a low-cost practice
2. Hedonic motivation: it's fun and builds community
3. Environmental motivation: it's a sustainable practice
4. Activist motivation: it's a way to live more simply and limit consumption

The research paper, "Is it fashionable to swap clothes? The moderating role of culture," pinpoints Gen Z and Millennials -- the two generations considered to be the most environmentally conscious -- to find out how people of similar ages but from different cultures engage in the phenomenon.

"My assumption was that maybe countries in the east would not really be engaged in those activities, and maybe the west would be more inclined to swap clothes," said Armouch. "But actually, I was surprised to see that it was an activity, a practice, that was happening all over the world."

Three people exchange clothes. (cottonbro studio/pexels.com)

Shopping without a price tag

Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander points out that the push towards sustainability could partially be due to the increase in inflation and the overall high cost of living.

"Income is so unstable that you have this perfect confluence of, 'I don't know where my income is going to come from,' 'I don't even know what it's going to be.' 'I have all of these expenses that I can't afford,'" he explains. "Swapping closets is almost a way of being able to shop without the price tag."

Stuffing your wardrobe with new clothes, adds Lander, is similar to spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new car only to have it mostly sit in your driveway.

After all, he muses, most people drive their cars maybe two or three hours per day, meaning they are idle for more than 20 hours a day.

"When you buy an outfit, that outfit is going to last you five years, say, three years, one year...How many times are you going to wear it in that five years, three year, one year?" Lander asks. "How much time is it just sitting in a drawer or hanging on a coat rack in your closet? The vast majority of what you buy is just sitting there idle. It's just useless money that you've spent."

Of the 279 people who answered Armouch's questionnaire globally, 49.5 per cent were female and 35.1 per cent were between 25 and 29 years old.

Additionally, 58.1 per cent had a Bachelor's degree, 51.6 per cent were workers and 28 per cent were students.