Sustainability is a constant concern in the fashion industry and it seems to have taken until 2020 for everyone to agree. Only now is it trendy and welcomed for high fashion labels to repurpose old garments, use solely natural fibers, and utilize plant based alternatives to animal leathers. Despite its only recent popularity, the sustainability movement has been a widespread crusade amongst the underground since the 80s. Unfortunately, the birth of this movement is often overlooked and only attributed to notable names such as Maison Margiela, when in reality there was a whole brigade of artists fighting against global consumerism. Janette Swift is one of these unsung heroes. She founded a collective of artists in the late 80s called Reactivart who made a myriad of different objets d’art out of trash and recycled materials. Janette herself focused primarily on clothing, notoriously making loud, political pieces, out of items such as empty cigarette packs and coke cans. Janette would later open her own storefront called No Logo, a shop for the charity Oxfam, where Janette and a group of young designers made clothing out of discarded fabrics from high fashion houses such as Katharine Hamnett and sold them for an affordable price. I was so intrigued when reading about her work in the 1989 “Earth” issue of i.D that I decided to reach out to her for an interview probing her views on the current sustainability movement. I’d like to thank Janette and her son Tyler for corresponding with me and making this interview happen. Enjoy:)
What events or influences in the 80s prompted you to take a part in preserving our Earth through fashion? How did Reactivart come to be?
I moved back to London from Hollywood in 1997…California, although there was an inordinate amount of excess, also had pockets of eco warriors left over from the 60’s, especially around San Francisco. Vegetarian , Vegan and Macrobiotic restaurants were springing up everywhere with like minded forward thinking people taking the lead. When I arrived in London the only recycling centre opened to the public was Camden. I happened to live on Camden high St sharing a flat with Adamski the musician.
One night I had an epiphany to mix Fashion and the environment and that I should gather a band of likeminded people together and shake things up..but make it cool and that I was the very person to do it. So the next morning I went to Camden recycling, asked them if they wanted to collaborate on an art show, secured a date for a small show upstairs at the ‘Petit Prince ‘ restaurant in Kentish Town and put the call out to artists anywhere who wanted to show. Remember in the 80’s the artist community knew each other, we went to the same gigs, read the same print, it wasn’t long before the call was answered, our first show, we were 5 artists, mixed media, with interviews following the show from City Limits, MTV and then the Guardian. Our second show, Portobello Road, we were 30 strong and by the time of our show at the Submarine Gallery in King Cross ( Sadly no longer there) we were 80 strong and were in some form of publication almost monthly.
How did you learn to construct clothing? Do you have construction techniques or tidbits of knowledge you learned from working with recycled materials?
My knowledge comes from my family. My Father was a carpenter, I watched him construct difficult shapes from wood. My Grandma, my Auntie Audrey, Auntie Jean and Auntie Glady’s were all amazing seamstresses and all played their part in my knowledge. But I have to be honest….from about 7 years old , I could unfold 3D shapes into 2D blueprints and work out how it was done all in my head, then it was just a question of measurement and draping.I remember seeing David Bowie in a Kenzo creation when I was 13, I copied it , I had to.
I think that overcoming the obstacles in the learning process was driven by an imperative, I imagined something and had to make it real, then I’d set to and find a way of constructing it. I have no fashion degree.
How does sustainability embody the punk ethos and culture?
Does it any longer ?? It did feel punk back in the 80’s because there were influential people denying the problems facing the planet. At least now it feels like the tide is turning, the next generation knows it’s really not cool to ignore eco issues. Now comes less punk and more plod…the job of following this through. Much the same as when slavery ended. Not everyone released their charges immediately, I’m sure that for the 30 years following the ruling, landowners were still being prosecuted for owning slaves, and bound indentured peoples finally released , but only when owners were faced with penalties..Now is the long task of making sure our businesses are monitored and taxed for polluting.
It is the same in the fashion industry, businesses need to be accountable. Charities such as” the sustainability Index” award points to companies who are ‘greening’ themselves. The Earth Logic Fashion Action Research Plan are a group also pushing for sustainable fashion and accountability. Charities like these and extinction rebellion, they are the punks now, in regard to the fashion industry. Now it is” put your money where your mouth is” time..show us the sustainable fashion, we know we need it , want it and will buy it , if it’s there on the shelves..hopefully eco fashion is moving from punk to mainstream..not a kickback but a considered choice..or am I as usual looking through tinted spectacles ?
How does the sustainability movement of present day compare/contrast with the one you pioneered in the 80s? What improvements in sustainability have you seen in the fashion industry since the 80s that are worthwhile? What brands/people would you like to highlight that are doing it right and why?
Sadly in the 80’s anything up cycled or sustainable had with it the negative association of open toed sandals and socks. My first aim was to make the whole thing a bit more edgy. That’s when I came up with the idea for NOLOGO. I took a business plan to Oxfam headquarters in Oxford and told them they were missing a trick. They had a huge sorting warehouse in Huddersfield where the best materials were being bought by weight to dealers in vintage clothing. I had started to lecture to fashion colleges about green fashion in 1989 and saw an opportunity to link the two, students used up cycled materials from Oxfam to create new fashion for NOLOGO. Sonique singer/ Dj ( SExpress ) helped us promote and open our first shop in 1990 on Marleybone Hight St, the second shop on Ganton St just off Carnaby st was opened in 1991. Mathew Williamson, Jessica Ogden , Vexed Generation, the vintage section in Topshop all developed by designers from the NOLOGO stable. In regard to Improvements in sustainable material..well there weren’t any available back then. Oxfam was producing an up cycled flock blanket substance, but it could only be used for interlining, but that was the only 100% eco material available. The choice is endless now, unbleached, up cycled, you can now purchase up cycled packaging. With my NOLOGO shops we made all of our own packaging as no other choices were available. It costs more but the choices are now there..so it has changed enormously.
With regard to brands that have got it right…Of course Xuly Bet is and always has been a massive inspiration, for me he’s ‘bang on’, that’s how to do it right. At no point is design compromised because it’s green and no compromise on sustainability..love everything he’s done since the start..he has never failed to excite and inspire me. Conscious Earthwear have constantly hit the same high levels of sustainable fashion and they make such beautiful wearable clothes. From the high st. , New Look are monitoring their production, material sources, energy and transport under the microscope in regard to Carbon Footprint. That’s the way to go. Green can not be a choice or a label by association it has to be a full commitment, show by example.
I feel like these days sustainability is a buzz word used as a selling point, how does a consumer distinguish between an ethical brand and one that is just using it as a marketing tool?
Does it matter why these companies are coming to the table ? So long as they are there and what it says on the tin is correct, surely that’s the result we are looking for ? Consumers are not fools, they will dig if they want to, but if bigger companies feel the need to ‘green’ up because they might miss out on sales….JOB DONE !Who cares what their motivation is, if they’re changing their processes, packaging and footprint, I’m good with that
New fashion is inherently unsustainable, from fabric cultivation, to construction, to transportation, to packaging, to what happens after you get rid of the garment. What do you think the 21st century consumer can do to reduce their environmental impact and not feed into the vicious cycle while still looking fly?
Buy better products that last and can be sold on. Don’t buy fashion that has low production values, they don’t last.If you can buy eco the first time round..DO! ,really it’s about buying stuff you really love, but will be able to cherish for a long time, do we have to own everything though? share clothes, rent clothes, clothes swaps.All ways to lessen the pile of waste at the end of the season.
What projects are you working on now and how do they reflect your stance against environmental degradation ?
My son Tyler and I have put together an eco label Youthclubinc, we have been working on it for 2 years nearly and we launched in January this year..that was quite punk actually. We launched in January in the middle of a Brexit crisis..No Fear..our business is not about making and selling thousands of unwanted hoodies, it’s about finding our likeminded customers and offering them amazing fashion with low carbon footprint and a sustainable provenance. We would love to begin lecturing together, youth clubs, schools, colleges, etc.. because the message has to be about solutions now. Our kids are scared and so they should be, but scared and inactive, demotivated is the worst place to be psychologically..what’s the saying “ take away a mans hope and you take away everything”
This is an amazing age nonetheless, we have the 3rd industrial revolution ( the internet ) in our lifetimes, we have unlimited information at our fingertips and we live in the UK, the most inspiring place on the planet at a time of flux and change. If we can inspire the next generation to think and work and produce locally and sell globally, adopting the ‘good old British shopkeeper mentality’, we could turn this situation into a silk purse.