Why Clothes Matter
At Selvedge, we believe clothes are never just clothes. They are memory made wearable: the jumper your grandmother knitted, the jacket that saw you through a decade of ordinary Tuesdays, the dress you wore to say goodbye. Cloth carries story, skill and soul. That's why Selvedge exists: to celebrate the makers, the techniques and the cultures woven into every thread, and to challenge an industry that has forgotten what fabric is for.
Mended garment by Skye Pennant of Slow Stitch Club
Because somewhere along the way, fashion swapped courtship for convenience. We stopped falling in love with our clothes and started collecting one-night stands: cheap, forgettable, discarded by morning. Fast fashion doesn't want a relationship, it wants a transaction. And the planet, and the people who make our clothes, are paying the price of our infidelity. This isn't an accident. It's the result of a system, one designed to extract value at every point, from the soil to the seam to the skip, while externalising the true cost onto garment workers, ecosystems and communities least responsible for it.
Diana Uprichard of Dolly Clothing
Kantha stitched fabric from the Sameeksha School of Embroidery
We think it's time to fall back in love. A lifelong love affair with our clothes means mending instead of binning, cherishing instead of churning, choosing quality over quantity: garments we want to grow old with, not ghost after one wear. But private devotion, however radical, is not enough. Makers and menders know better than anyone what a garment is truly worth: the hours, the skill, the care embedded in every seam. That knowledge is power, and we need to use it.
Skye Pennant, founder of Slow Stitch Club
Three things you can do:
- Repair before you replace, and choose well. Learn a visible mend, darn a sock, patch a knee. Seek out natural fibres, traceable supply chains and makers who pay their artisans fairly. Every repaired garment is a small act of devotion and a rejection of disposability, and every considered purchase is a vote for a different kind of industry.
- Pass it on. Swap, resell or donate thoughtfully; keep garments circulating and out of landfill, rather than letting them die in the back of a wardrobe. One well-made, well-loved, well-passed-on piece does more for the planet than ten fast-fashion impulse buys.
- Use your voice. Talk to your MP. Support legislation that holds brands accountable for their supply chains and pushes for living wages for garment workers. We cannot leave systems change to someone else: the skills gathered here are evidence of what is possible.
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Join us for Out of Fashion: Circular & Craft
Part of London Textile Month, this event brings together makers, menders and advocates to explore what happens to clothing after its first life. It's hosted by Dr Safia Minney MBE, founder of Indilisi and Fashion Declares, in collaboration with Selvedge Magazine.
When & where: Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
- Workshops: 2–6pm
- Evening talk: 6.30–8pm
Workshop hosts and speakers who will be appearing at Out of Fashion: Circular & Craft
Afternoon workshop hosts include:
- Skye Pennant of Slow Stitch Club, visible mending, and author of Well Worn
- Graham Hollick, rug-hooking textiles made from repurposed clothing and coffee sacks
- Catherine Harris, textile conservator and long-time Selvedge collaborator
- Sujaya Mahesh of Sameeksha School of Embroidery, traditional embroidery techniques, including patchwork and kantha
- DOLLY Clothing (founded by Diana Upritchard in Lewes), hosting a curated clothes swap, joined by an Indilisi pop-up
Evening panel speakers include:
- Dr Safia Minney MBE (Indilisi & Fashion Declares)
- Polly Leonard (Founder & Editor, Selvedge Magazine)
- Gemma Metheringham (Circular Fashion Advocate)
- Amelia Twine (Sustainable Fashion Week)
- Niki de Schryver (Founder, COSH.eco)
- Tansy Hoskins (Journalist & Author)
Come fall in love with fashion again, properly, this time.