50
Fashion firstInher regular column on trying to dress better – in an actual ethical
kind of way – fashion features dir ctorJess Wood talks fashion-forward tightsTHINKING FASHIONThephenomena of clothing
rental sites is set to
continue with peer-to-peer
sharing platforms hitting
the UK. In plain English,
this means you can rent
out your own wardrobe,
and other people’s. Hurr
(hurrcollective.com) ‘is
a collective of forward-
thinking women who believe
renting makes economic and
environmental sense’, say the
site’s founders Victoria Prew and
Matthew Geleta. ‘Our platform
allows you to join a network of
like-minded entrepreneurs who
access fashion for a fraction of
the retail price and turn their
wardrobes into investments.’
Fancy giving it a go? Create an
account, and once your ID has
been verified, upload photosof your items for rent – for either
a week or up to a month – and set
the rental price. When your item
is requested, you can choose to
accept, then post it or arrange
a handover. Site users give each
other reviews, eBay style. You get
paid when the item is returned.
If you’re panicking about your
treasured Guccis going AWOL, the
site will reimburse the market cost
of an item in the (hopefully rare- shudder) event of a non-return.
Beinga child of the 80s, and one who
attendeda school with a hair-raisingly
awful uniform, tights have been a mental
hurdle for me. The memories of trundling
through London to school on the bus, blinded
by the shine of the ‘nude’ yet Tango-toned
sheerson female office workers, and of my
owndaily hunt through the drawers for the
least itchy pair of school-approved 4,000 deniers in the height of
summer– it’s taken me years to get over my subconscious conviction
that bare legs = the height of cool and freedom. But get over it I have,
thanksto a bold new era of catwalk legwear. Forget black, now we’ve
got leopard prints, metallic fishnets, florals that match the dress, and
colour blocks that match the shoes – why, at Dolce, we’ve even got
bejewelled tights that turn legs into another showcase for bling. But
traditional hosiery production carries a heavy environmental cost,
with nylon and elastane releasing scary amounts of harmful gases
during manufacturing. Add to that the high wardrobe turnover –
tightsare thrown away more than any other item – and that’s a lot of
plasticfibres ending up in landfill. But hosiery is moving forward.
Sustainable brand Swedish Stockings was the first to produce
100 per cent recycled tights – made from pre-consumer waste
nylon and elastane – and now it has teamed up with Ganni, our
favourite zeitgeist-defining Swedes (see right). And hurrah for
these two other hosiery innovators – Wolford and Pretty Polly.THAT’SSO HURRWOLFORD
Checkout Wolford’s new
fishnets and ankle socks
made with Econyl
(recycled nylon waste), as
well as the Aurora range
of biodegradable leggings
and tops. Socks, £191GANNIX
SWEDISH STOCKINGS
A stylish sustainable tights
collection that includes prints- from leopard to floral –
that make Ganni dresses
such a sell-out. Tights, £45
PRETTYPOLLY ECO-WEAR
This collection is made
from the world’s first
biodegradable polyamide
yarn, which decomposes
within three years of
reaching landfill. From £10PETER PILOTTORICHARD QUINNVERSACEVERSACEPHOTOGRAPHS BY @VENSWIFESTYLE