Donated by Cambridge Literary Festival


Patrick Grant | Less

Sun 24 Nov 2024 | 10:00am – 11:00am

Join fashion designer, Sewing Bee judge and founder of the social enterprise Community Clothing Patrick Grant, to hear hispowerful case against the global fashion industry. Loving clothes but despairing of a broken global system, Patrick considers the crisis of consumption and quality in fashion, and how we might make ourselves happier by rediscovering the joy of living with fewer, better-quality things.

We used to care a lot about our clothes. We didn’t have many but those we had were important to us, we’d cherish them, repair them and pass them on. And making them provided fulfilling work for millions of skilled people locally. Today the average person has nearly five times as many clothes as they did just 50 years ago, last year 100 billion garments were produced worldwide, most made from oil, 30% of which were not even sold, and the equivalent of one bin lorry full of clothing is dumped in landfill or burned every single second. Our wardrobes are full to bursting with clothes we never wear so why do we keep buying more?

In conversation with Alex Clark

 

Venue: Cambridge Union

Duration: 1 hour