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We were delighted to have the chance to catch up with Lisa McCann the founder of brand new online vintage store A Seamstress for the band and have her thoughts on vintage and sustainable fashion
Q: Can you tell us about how you became involved in the world of vintage fashion? Moving to London and studying fashion journalism, I became consumed with the history of fashion and therefore drawn to secondhand and vintage shops and markets. It also seemed far less wasteful, way cheaper and more fun and experimental. London was so inspiring in terms of street style and how people expressed themselves. Moving back to Dublin, I worked in vintage shop Om Diva on Drury Street and my obsession grew from there. Q: Have you seen a change in how people are viewing vintage and pre-loved clothing in recent years? It has entered the mainstream; young people especially are much more conscious of how much they buy, where they buy their clothes from and the fact that they can have much more fun buying secondhand and preloved clothing. It is a huge part of the sustainability and fashion conversation with department stores like Selfridges in London getting behind Secondhand September and hosting pop up shops in-store run by Oxfam and fashion consultant Bay Garnett. Q: Do you still find yourself drawn in by fast fashion? Any suggestions on how to avoid the lure of the latest fashions drops from the likes of Zara, H & M? I’ll admit to being unable to resist popping into those shops for a quick browse. Their shop windows and on-trend pieces are loud and in our face most of the time. However, the more educated you become on the perils of fast fashion and the more jaded you become by the endless cycle of fast fashion, the more you find it within yourself to not give in. It becomes about choosing pieces you really love, that will last and that have a story behind them. Q: What vintage and preloved destinations (online and in store) do you like to visit? Note to readers - We have added Lisa’s recommendations onto the greenfridays4future.com website as well of some of our own recommendations for pre-loved destinations (including Depop the fashion marketplace, Rebornclothing.ie which does great on trend preloved fashion. And Thriftify for the best of the charity shop offerings in Ireland). Q: Who or what inspires you?
Instagram; Jenny Walton, Caroline Brasch and Rudy Jude
What people are wearing everyday on the street no matter who they are Looking at photos of what people wore in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s Mick Jagger in the 60s and 70s
Q: What one change would you like to see people make which could make a huge difference to living greener? To open their minds to shopping second-hand. It’s true, the sizes and condition can be an issue, but once you embrace the idea that not everything you own has to be brand new and on trend, your whole world opens up and you feel much better about your impact on the environment. Walk past Zara to your local charity shop or vintage shop and put in the effort, not everything worth having is easy. Q: What 'One Change' have you made in recent years which you deem most significant? Buying less, investing in special, vintage pieces, browsing in high street stores for inspiration but not buying.
Green your Jeans
While shopping vintage and pre-loved is definitely the way to go, it’s worth taking a look at how some of the major fashion industry names are redesigning jeans to make them part of the circular economy. We love what ELV denim and Mud jeans are doing to go circular. You can get more information on the greenfridays4future.com site.
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Have a fantastic weekend!!
GreenFridays4Future
