Athens Sustainable Fashion: A Solution to the threat of Fast Fashion

Athens Sustainable Fashion: A Solution to the threat of Fast Fashion By Talley Davidson

Today Americans send four times the amount of clothing to landfills than they did in 1980, according to NBC News. What used to be an average accumulation of 40 new garments a year almost four decades ago, is now 66. In order for American shopaholics to make room for their frequent purchases thanks to today's fast fashion industry, an average of 14 million tons of clothing are dumped into landfills annually, according to Newsweek. Fast fashion is defined as a way for clothing businesses like H&M and Forever21 to create mass amounts of trendy clothing quickly that's priced low enough to encourage high consumption. However, by people trashing clothing made of fabrics such as cheap polyester, the environmentally harmful material can take over 200 years to decompose due to the cheap, plastic fibers, according to NBC News.

Located at 260 Jackson Street, Community proudly sits as a sustainable fashion boutique in the middle of downtown Athens. The store is an open space of both trendy retail and a creative workshop where talented seamstresses transform used local clothing into appealing fashion for a college community.

To solve the nationwide waste issue of fast fashion, local fashion businesses in Athens, Georgia are revamping vintage clothing and designing new garments from used fabric. Sanni Baumgärtner, business owner of local downtown Athens boutique, Community, has committed her passion for vintage fashion to creating sustainable, trendy clothing. The boutique opened in 2010 and has acquired so much popularity for its fashion methods that they're now the official alterations spot for the UGA football team.

Born near Normandy, Germany, Baumgärtner's fashion journey has lead her to the small town environment of Athens, Georgia, where vintage clothing thrives and young college culture appreciates innovative sustainable fashion. Here, on Oct. 2, 2019, Baumgärtner organizes game day-themed women's clothing that her and her seamstresses designed in the store for shoppers.

Baumgärtner grew up loving vintage seventies clothing. She’d even wear her mother’s clothes and grandfather’s as a teenager. This fascination sparked her interest in sustainable fashion. Now as the business owner of Community, her goal for the business is to take vintage pieces, modernize them and update them in the store. They also sell lots of locally made goods like chocolates, gifts and jewelry. Everything has to be made in Georgia for Community to sell the product in support of sustainable shipping methods. Most of the community vendors are based in Athens which also serves as a way for Community to support the local economy.

Wherever you look inside the store, innovation and sustainability define the tone of the environment. Pictured left, a step-by-step mural complements the rightside wall of the boutique to demonstrate to customers the history of the clothing they're purchasing and care put into each stitch. Pictured second to left is Community seamstress Olivia Babuka-Black who is sewing a new garment in the store's workshop. Pictured third to left is a denim dress sewn completely from vintage denim pant legs. Pictured on the bottom right are multiple of the worship sewing machines.

Hanging in the workshop beside a wall of sewing tools is a vintage Gucci crop top. Baumgärtner and her team venture through local flea markets and thrift stores for clothing with potential for modernization that local consumers would want to buy from their storefront such as this top.

A 591 Singer Industrial sewing machine used for tougher fabrics such as leather.

According to Baumgärtner, much of the fashion industry has a negative impact on the environment. With each step of production comes a significant amount of pollution from chemical toxins being released into the environment to carbon dioxide pollution through extensive shipping methods. Baumgärtner named three aspects of sustainable fashion as a part of her aim to combat the threat of unsustainable fashion methods: one being the use of friendly fabrics and materials, the second being ethical treatment of workers compared to mass factories in nations like China and India and a third being the sale of local products to cut down on shipping pollution.

There is no curtain door or wall separating Baumgärtner's workshop from the rest of her boutique. Her and her seamstresses are a well-oiled machine of creative minds and focused pioneers of sustainable fashion. Steamers hang from the walls, and labeled baskets on the shelves read "patterns" and "needles." Every piece of clothing gets recognized and has an exciting makeover awaiting its future. Pictured top left is employee Olivia Babka-Black sewing a green garnmet for the storefront. Pictured bottom left are seamstresses Olivia Babuka-Black and Becky Brooks collaborating on measurements for a new design. Pictured right are Baumgärtner and Miranda Diaz, planning the next design and release of a black garment.

Pictured left are a few of the workshop's ironing boards, steamers and sewing tools. Pictured second to left are some vintage shoes and handbags sold in the boutique storefront. Pictured third to left is employee Moana Balogh organizing clothing in the workshop.

"I love working here, we're all like family," says employee Moana Balogh.

Pictured from left to right are seamstresses Miranda Diaz, Moana Balogh, and Olivia Babuka-Black gaily converse about daily topics while designing and doing alterations and designing for the store.

Selling locally made, Georgian products is a third aspect of sustainable retail that Community values. Community has expanded beyond fashion to foster a sustainable business and sells everything from soaps to stickers to jewelry. Pictured top left are bars of soap made by Athens-based brewery Terrapin. Pictured top right are Athens-themed stickers made by local designers. Pictured bottom left are gold earrings made by local jewelry maker Absynia made exclusively for Community. Pictured bottom right are packaged bags of corn flour cheese straws made by Athens restaurant home.made.

Community supports local vendors mainly because of the environmental harm caused by processing external products. Oftentimes, even cotton that's grown in Georgia is processed in China that then gets shipped around the world by boat or plane that then creates ocean and air pollution. Stores like Community try to avoid these shipping practices as much as possible.

Pictured top left is the tidy, bright Community workshop filled with sewing machines and tools waiting to be used to design new clothing. Pictured top right is a locally made garment in Georgia by Thread Becky--further evidence that Community only sells products made within the state. Pictured below is a creamy thread strung through the store's professional sewing machines.

"Fast fashion goes way beyond the negative impact it has on the environment and mistreatment of workers. Now the whole concept of fast fashion is a problem," says Baumgärtner.

A chalkboard sign stating Community's sustainable practices and mission sits outside the storefront on Oct. 2, 2019.

Baumgärtner notes that fast fashion businesses like H&M and Forever21 make consumers believe that they should be buying new clothing every week—clothing that will then be out of style before the blink of an eye. She continues to mention how fast fashion is changing consumer behavior because today people are purchasing far more clothing that they don’t wear as long as they did 40 years ago. Although she interacts with consumers who want to support sustainable fashion, she says that the societal beliefs that clothes should cost next to nothing prevents the necessary education consumers need about the environmental harm caused by that industry.

"I think the main struggle for me is creating something at a more affordable price point," says Baumgärtner. "There's some really great sustainable fashion brands out there but if you're really going to follow principles of using good quality materials that are sustainably grown or produced, paying for your work and producing in the US rather than overseas--it's too easy to get to a higher price point. There's such a drastic difference between the fast fashion price point and then that price point. The biggest struggle for sustainable fashion is educating the consumer on the sustainability process and why it's worth investing in some higher end pieces."

Pictured left is the bust frame of a modern model shape that Community designers use to measure clothing to design for sales. Pictured second to left are educational pamphlets for consumers to take and read about what to recycle and what not to recycle when it comes to clothing. Pictured third to left is the glass Community storefront window labeled with their sustainability mission and services.

So what's the future for sustainable fashion? Today, overseas shipping is dominating the fashion industry and contributing to the 14 million tons of pollution that Americans are causing annually. Therefore, Baumgärtner believes the next best step for sustainability would be to recreate a supply chain within the United States and then ship raw materials grown and made within the country, such as cotton. It all starts with local support and education, and Community is doing just that.

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