The Simple Solution to Fast Fashion | Josephine Philips | TED
Your favorite pair of jeans -- the ones you refuse to throw out -- are actually a part of a global climate solution, says fashion entrepreneur Josephine Philips. When you value your existing clothes instead of chasing the latest trends, you help reduce waste and protect our planet for generations to come. Learn more about the impacts of what you wear -- and the incredible power of repairing your clothes.
If you love watching TED Talks like this one, become a TED Member to support our mission of spreading ideas: ted.com/membership
Follow TED!
Twitter: / tedtalks
Instagram: / ted
Facebook: / ted
LinkedIn: / ted-conferences
TikTok: / tedtoks
The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world's leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design - plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Watch more: go.ted.com/josephinephilips
• The Simple Solution to...
TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (or the CC BY - NC - ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: www.ted.com/about/our-organiz.... For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at media-requests.ted.com
#TED #TEDTalks #clothing
oh my gawd, this woman's speech and eloquence and understanding of the problem is so inspiring
"Valuing the things that we own is a climate solution." Josephine Philips
I couldn't agree more! The idea of disposable clothes is relatively modern, and driven by the fashion industry. Those who make their own clothes value the work that goes in and treasure the contents of their wardrobes
It's modern and driven by us being rich enough to afford it. It's economics. Modern factories can produce vast amounts of cloths very cheaply. So people can afford to buy lots of new cloths, and many do. If you make your own cloths, well you aren't using the massive industrial looms. Everything optimized to take minimal time. You are therefore putting in loads and loads more work by doing things the hard way.
I"m writing my high school senior thesis on the top of the disastrous affects of fast fashion. This is an extremely important topic & nearly nobody is actually discussing solutions
Could I read your thesis? I'm making a podcast for a humanities assignment and would love to see your views on sustainable fashion and why you believe nobody is actually discussing solutions.
For the past couple of years, I’ve become more conscious of my fashion choices after learning more about fast fashion and the environmental cost of those choices. Additionally, I’ve been consuming a ton of history content about history and clothing. Everything she said is so on point. We should move forward into teaching sewing skills more and ensuring people care for their textiles (wash and dry on delicate, less detergent, avoid over washing, etc) so we can value what we have.
People are so divorced from how items get to them and are created and disposed, esp in the global north
@@Queersailorscout It is not only with clothing but also with electornics, but without buying new ones there will be no marked to create new ones meaning no drive to improve or innovate. think about clothing store will be closing down factories. True it is great for the enviroment that we do not consume more. I think we should be more aware of what we buy and how it is create and compose. Making it easier to recycle and become raw material again circle economy instead of just recycling and getting new raw material out of mother nature. But you need to keep in mind it is cheaper to just make products from raw material than recycle and make new products. Think about medical industry throws alot of things away just to be sure the products are sterile. Will you able to accept recycled medical supplies? like bandied?
I agree. From this moment on I will walk away from fast fashion and help others do the same.
She forgot to mention that the quality of "plastic" clothes today is so terrible that there's no way to even reuse them in the second season.
You can still find things that are of good quality, and if they cost more you should realise it’s an illusion. It costs you more to renew your wardrobe every year than to buy something once that you can wear a lifetime.
@@lauramaria8880 I would gladly pay more money but it becoming extremely difficult just to find anything decent that's not made of polyester.
I still have Patagonia from the 90’s
@@v.c.7330Exactly, and everything looks bad even before being sold...
@@v.c.7330there are more and more durable options on the market, but since it’s the small brands without huge marketing budgets, it can be hard to find them. Have a look on “good on you”
I am wearing pants of cotton I wove myself. I did not grow or spin the cotton. I am working on this. I spin wool and make the yarn and also the processing waste wool into products and garments. It is my intention to make long lasting quality clothes that can fit well in a wardrobe for life. Mind you, people need to learn how to care for their garments. We need more emphasis on this skillset.
Thank you for spreading this message!
One of the most powerful relatable and much needed ted talk ever.
A creative approach to care for our planet. It's just amazing
Growing up poor has already got me most of the way there lol. You keep clothes that fit you until you just can't repair them anymore, anything else goes to a second hand store so someone else can have it. (plus the coupon you get from the donation helps)
Someone should show this to the automobile industry...
Many say that H&M, Zara, etc. clothing is poor quality and does not last after a few washes. That might be true in some cases. But not all the time. I have a few pairs of H&M jeans, which have been very durable. I have used those jeans during construction work and washed them tens or maybe over a hundred times, and they still are okay. There are some minor holes, but they are generally very durable jeans. So fast fashion brand clothing is not necessarily evil if you keep using those clothes, not throw them away. Josephine gave an excellent TED talk.
Well you should always look at stiches. If they are unveven then the piece of clothing will disolve after a few washes
Utterly speechless! I’m so very touched by this! It really strikes a chord!
The speech is excellent in bringing awareness about fast fashion among people. We need to think twice about clothes.
Love this message!
Powerful.... I'm happy to have stumbled on this! I'm working on something very related... This brought more fuel to my fire
Great talk! Thank you.
A very touching speech!
AMAZING. Absolutely amazing!!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
So REFRESHING! From a young & intelligent lady, Josephine; we need to take lessons! ....not buying...UNLESS, we intend to share a lonnnnng love story with our piece of clothing. Sustainability begins...with taking action to, NOT buying ! (or buy with necessity and intention!) You are a lively example to all, Ms Josephine! Thank you....thank you so much! Especially durint this time of the year when people...buy TOO MUCH...(unfortunately, for nothing too often!) I will think of your precious words...when I enter a store (if I need to go, of course! ;) Happy before Christmas!! helene :)
So good. I needed this today. 😊
One of the problems is that clothes aren't being made with quality materials.
For people who can afford to, it's best to invest in quality items that will stand the test of time.
Great talk
Ive got a starter jacket i had since 2009 i still wear it today and people ask me where i got it from....not to mention vintage clothing is always gonna be in so saving your good garments make sense
One of the best presentations on this subject I have seen. Passionate and solution based for the citizen. We must make it illegal to dump garments in countries where the infrastructure cannot cope either.
I am a fashion designer and grew up wearing and designing fast fashion for large retailers. Today, I purchase upscaled apparel and accessories as much as possible. I often useThread Up. The site quantifies the amount of waste the user has saved and makes them feel better about their purchase. That said, sometimes we can't find an appropriate piece of clothing that fits us... i.e., a mother-of-the-bride dress in the right color and size. Valuing your clothes is only one part of the equation. Fashion, more often than not, is an emotional purchase. I hope that the new emerging technologies of AI will help analyze buyers, and trends to reduce overproduction, find ways to recycle consumer waste to make textiles, analyze consumer buying patterns, and solve for waste.
That's a typical token argument. "Recycling" requires a *lot* of energy and resources. It's not "green" at all. Wonder why we see *less* recycled paper nowadays (which was a fad in the 80-ies and 90-ies)? Well, it's for that reason. The only way you can make fashion even remotely sustainable is (a) Get rid of the "trends" - that's planned obsolescence; (b) Make better quality clothing with a much longer life span; (c) Repair clothing - as this presentation suggests. The rest is just "greenwashing" - we fake it until we make it.
@@HansBezemer Thank you Hans for your response. I'm not sure we will ever get rid of (a) get rid of trends but points are well taken. I wonder if there is a way we can make clothes reflect the person's individuality without remaking the clothing. For instance, I have seen clothing that can have images change on the wearer.
@@yokofashionpassion Thank you for engaging the discussion in a positive way. I think the points you make are more in line with the core arguments of the presentation and I would consider such measures a genuine effort of the industry to become more sustainable.
@@HansBezemerWe see less recycled paper because toilet grey toilet paper made of old newspapers is harsh on skin and people prefer soft paper.
@@karolinakuc4783 There were more uses for recycled paper than just toilet paper. And those seem to have to be gone as well.
I'm so happy to hear I can tailor items that are too big. I lost weight and have clothing I would love to keep. I'm going to call a tailor and see what can be done :).
Great content Josie 👌❤
This is about giving something up. In this case what you are trying to get people to give up is massive amounts of cheap cloths. Most people don't want an emotional relationship with their cloths. They just want cloths that work and that they can ignore. The "if ripped, bin", "if short on cloths, buy some" is a simple rule for people who mostly want to do other things.
Nice talk ! 🎉
Commanding that stage, inspirational Jojo!
it's extremely inspiring
Ever since I was young, I got all my clothes from my older cousins and from thrift stores. I never bought a single pair of shorts or clothing from a TJ Maxx, or a superstore until three years ago, and that was only once. After hearing this Ted talk, I resolve to never do so again.
I still sow holes and stich any old clothes I've got I've never thrown any clothes away!
Thank you 😘😍🥰❤
Thank's for spreading this message that we should value our clothes and don't threw it away
What a wise woman. For the last 10 years since I understand this I only buy clothes when they wear out outside of repair. So... I don't reallt apend money on clothes anymore, they last years ❤
What about people that purchase fast fashion because it’s affordable and they keep it for a long time?
Just thank you
I hold consumers responsible for fast fashion, and consumers responsible for progress. Governments and businesses are derivative of people. Personal dollars and actions are votes determining our shared future. Please, let's do well. Thank you, Josephine, for your contributions!
Advertisement
Preach it Josephine!
Hi🎉Very good content. I like this video❤❤❤
This should be a subject learned at every school
Great ❤
Cannot agree more. Absolutely correct. 🎉 don't don't buy so much and just wear once. It causes too much waste and the plant is on the verge of collapse.
Good talk but I never heard what sewjo is???.... @Ted, where are the speaker's details in the description under the video!?
Yes, good
I still have shirts that I got back in the 70's. I never could understand this "fast fashion" bull. You want something disposable, make the clothes out of paper.
FAQ's Link on your site is broken.
I've been wearing the same favourite clothes for several years now. Even though I would like to buy something nice and new, everything I see in the shops looks and feels awful. There's lots of poliester and acrylic everywhere, and the clothes look bad even before being sold. I don't really feel like buying such stuff...
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:08 👗 The Value of Clothing 01:08 🌍 The Fast Fashion Generation 02:07 ♻️ Reducing Fashion Waste 03:37 👕 Valuing and Caring for Clothes 05:07 💬 Clothing with Stories 06:40 🌎 Responsibility and Opportunity 07:38 🌿 A Climate Solution Made with HARPA AI
Very very very very nice 👍🏻 ❤❤😊😊😊
🔥🔥🔥
When I open my closet every day, I think, "I don't have anything to wear today." Even if I bought clothes yesterday, I always think I don't have clothes and buy new styles of clothes. But I think this idea needs to be fixed for me and the planet.
Good point. I realized it -clothes- has a psychological impact on us. We tie it to our feelings (how it makes us feel) and how we value ourselves and others.
To be honest, I clicked it because of her
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
❤
The only solution is to buy rationally not emotionally 😅
This is all well and good, I love the idea and I still have some of my mom’s and dad’s clothes, but she doesn’t know fat people’s problems. Pants get ruined, literally the fabric wears out and disappears. There is no fixing that. At least not in a wearable way. And no, I refuse to wear pants with holes on my tighs. But thank you for the all great solution. How did we not think of buying less and just keeping them? Newsflash, we did. You didn’t invent anything new.
If you buy clothes with elastane you do not have such problem. Definitely you can find some old second-hand clothes that have even 20% of elastane
Clothes, along with a lot of other things, just aren’t made the way they used to. Levi’s is a great example of this. Their jeans used to last generations. Now I’m lucky if they last more than 3-5 years. This whole speech puts the onus on the customer, while marketing her clothing repair company.
Why isn't addiction part of this conversation?
oo true! consumerism is a spiderweb.
I buy a piece of clothing maybe once a year tops
Women buy a lot of clothes because they are expected to look nice.
Make disposable things out of disposable materials rather than some plastic thread that lasts an eternity.
In my closet you say
Unfortunately this gives livelihood to many people in some countries. In india, the sarees are handover to next generation even now. Few decades earlier the clothes were given to relatives as you grow up
This is giving big “brush your teeth in the shower to save fresh water“ energy. I don’t watch a ton of Ted talks but is Al Gore the only one that puts the pressure on the corporations and on the industry for their destructive and self-made unsustainable business model of infinite growth in a finite world?
That said, I don't know *how much* of the problem it is tackling. Halving 1% of a problem doesn't get you far.
In what sense is anyone pursuing infinite growth in a finite world. Our path now looks very similar for now if we plan for a large but finite amount of growth. You know, fill up the milkey way galaxy and then stop levels of growth.
tldr: buy less ?
A fantastic speaker. But telling people to buy less, throw away less, and value their stuff is not a solution. It's a dream. As long as new, shinny stuff is cheap and readily available, the behaviour will continue. Something needs to be done at the industry level to impact business model of fast fashion. Through legislation/taxation, for example.
All my shirts are band shirts i will never get rid of them, they are going with me to the grave we are not the same.
Companies need to make less stuff...theres absolutely no need for there to be a new iphone every year
Not only is this great for the environment, it's also great financially. Saving a few hundred dollars a year on clothing and instead investing it in retirement accounts will pay off later in life.
The problem lies with the fashion industry itself - which practically invented "planned obsolescence". Better quality clothes with a long lifespan doesn't equate to better company performance. And as long as there is a market (and there will be) they will continue to provide. No girl wants to be found in the same dress twice. No girl wants to be found in a dress that is (even) five years old. Few women are prepared to change their lifestyle to save the climate. It's much easier to provide "token contributions" and make the world believe you're one of the good gals. So this is primarily a cultural and mindset problem. Sure, you're entire audience will nod and exclaim that it's a logical and sound idea (which it is) - but *especially* for "other people". Not them. So I'm afraid few will be actually converted.
God! She's beautiful 😍
this did not seem like 8 misn
i love sustainable fashion, as a fashion student i keep looking for something i can create sustainable and affordable, this is one of the worst ted talk on fashion till now, it was more about feelings attached to clothes which i understand but where the F is the solution, and what do you mean when you said we should know which women grew that cotton, sure we should be responsible but if everyone starts keep doing that man! slow life is good and harmless for everyone, but not so practical, there are varieties of people and this is dumb to expect everyone to live a slow life, we are romanticizing it a lot more, sure as a privleged young person you have liberty to talk about these things.
you need to understand, if you repair clothing and never buy new ones. Fashion will die because nobody will follow the trends and nobody will create new trend back to the hunting and gathering. Back to rome times where everybody wearing a cloth.
Umm no..people in the 1930s/40s ect still wore clothes that were fashionable at the time, but there were restrictions in place due to rationing that forced them to look after their clothes and keep them for longer...clothes were valued and looked after. The fashion industry will have to adapt for sure, but it's either fashion adapts or this world is going to be pretty unliveable in the near future. Change has to happen. Have a nice day :)
Well, that's what "caring for the climate" means. It means abandoning a lifestyle. Your last argument is a "slippery slope" logical fallacy. Before the 16th century there wans't much of a fashion industry for the ordinary man. People did *exactly* that which was promoted here: good quality clothing that could be repaired over and over again. "Fashion" was more a thing for the elite - and even then it moved much slower. There was no "1784 summer collection". So, that argument is moot. If you don't care about the climate, just say so. Be honest about it. Just say "I don't wanna change my lifestyle to contribute to the climate problem". But don't try to hide behind silly arguments.
@@HansBezemer You mean before the 16th century there was no fast fashion nowadays everybody is able to buy clothing. In the past everything was bespoke. I am just saying if we lost fashion it means fast fashion because fashion houses run on sales. If there isn't any how can they survive? I am not afraid of throwing ever fashion overboard but that is how our society works our system, without trade our system is back to hunting and gathering even than we need to distinguish ourself in ranks and levels. Think about if everybody is wearing the same clothing how do we know who is the manager or workers the manager of the manger?
@@changyone If everybody buys shoes, how do clogmakers survive? Well, they don't. They were superceded by shoemakers. Nowadays a few do cute things for tourists - as a relic from the past. And I think fashion should go the same way - being a wasteful remnent from the past. And economy will survive. Just as it survived the industrial revolution - where workers threw their cloggs in the machine, because they thought along the same lines as you - the computer revolution and now the green revolution. Old jobs and industries vanish, new emerge. And go to any office in northern Europe - you can't tell the managers from the workers - all casual - and they're the richest countries the world. You heavily overestimate the importance of clothing in the modern world. Maybe because the real reason is you don't wanna give up a lifestyle. That's a valid argument. But be honest about it - just say "I don't care enough about the issue to change my lifestyle".
@@HansBezemer you make the wrong comparison. one is moving from one to another and other comparrision you made is totally wipe away of a lifestyle. It is like saying people do not need to eat or bath anymore. Let say from now on we do not throw clothing away anymore or buy them, we just repair. What if your clothing is that damaged it aint possible to repair anymore or you want another color. This mean you need them made by a tailor or repair shop. This will be crazy expensive. Think about bespoke clothing. 100 euro For a tee? I am totally not against revolution, and changes, I will love sustainability. As I said circulairity is the way to move our world. Fashion is not the problem of our problem. If the clothing we throw away will be recycled and made into new ones, what will be the problem of fashion? Like if airplane can fly carbon free and noise free what is the problem of airplanes? Who wants their trip take longer than it should. Like you can walk from Europe to Asia but also take an airplane, the decision depending on sub elements like how long, pricing sustainability and convenience.
Polyester
Very few women have enough strong sense of self to pull this off. Sadly:Too many psychological problems in humans makes this plan fail.
Don’t buy it. Ted talk over.
If your just stay in shape and keep your weight the same, you can wear clothing for a long time. People just keep getting fatter each year and need to buy new clothes to meet their new size.
Luxury items need to ne banned.
Why tho. Perfumes can be made of natural materials. It is just big companies that got greedy and started using synthetic that they had to test on animals. And textile production could even reduce CO2 emisions had wool been done with use of regenerative farming.
I agree that clothing should be more valued and cared for. But you are also promoting the UNs plan to promote no more buying of clothing (. Three items per year)… yes promote a culture of appreciation and value in our everyday clothing items but don’t promote people stifling their desire for purchasing clothing
People’s ‘desire’ to keep buying clothes is not healthy and should not be protected. Think why do you feel the need to do that. Psychologically speaking, u are simply trying to fill a lack in your life, whatever that might be, one or many, big or small doesn’t matter. You’ve programmed yourself by looking out in a society that promotes consumerism, to think that a new pair of shoes is going to change ur life. Then you buy them and after two times of wearing them you get bored, ur back in the void and looking for the next thing. That is literally how consumerism grasps the human mind! By taking advantage of our emotions. That’s why parents should make their kids aware from a young age when they start asking for stuff that not everything they see on tv is worth it and stop buying them everything they ask for every other day. And sure you can think of yourself as the Carrie Bradshaw of your life but remember that she didn’t just have a desire for buying clothes…that was her passion, a big part of her job and she truly valued every piece. But most importantly, she invested in her wardrobe like in art. It was never about fulfilling the empty desire of buying.