In 2020, each citizen of the European Union, through their purchases of textile products alone, consumed 391 kg of raw materials, 9 m³ of “blue water,” 44 m³ of “green water,” and 400 m² of land. This consumption of raw materials, water, and land mostly occurs outside European territory, primarily concentrated in major textile production regions in Asia.
However, this is compounded by the problem of textile waste (only 1% of used clothes are recycled into new garments). Considering that a garment is reportedly worn no more than seven or eight times, there is an urgent need to completely rethink the fashion system!
Many local organizations promote the reuse and valorization of used clothing. Among them is the Reuse Center of G. Brodolini (Federconsumatori of Perugia), which, thanks especially to volunteers, strives to perpetuate the reuse and recycling of objects, furniture, books, and used clothes.
As part of the event “Mi illumino di meno” — the National Day of Energy Saving and Sustainable Lifestyles, created in 2005 by Rai Radio2 through the show Caterpillar — this year’s theme is linked to fashion and the issue of fast fashion, with a nod to the fashion of the 1990s.
Fiber artist Susanna Cati, a frequent visitor to the recycling center, gifted the reuse center a double artistic installation created using old globes and one of the most popular styles of the ’90s: GRUNGE. (Think of the musical movements that first inspired the genre, like Nirvana.)
Ironically, grunge was already a style of clothing characterized by deliberate untidiness, alternative and in contrast with the yuppie culture of the ’80s. Grunge, with its ripped jeans, plaid flannel shirts, and torn T-shirts, was already a warning cry for what would only get worse later.
The installation represents worlds completely suffocated by textiles! One globe is entirely covered, with only a few glimpses of sea visible; the other has become a system that has replaced the geographical topography of the world, where we see only fast fashion and chaotic interconnections.
PRIVATE COLLECTION
