Marseille's slow fashion week for accessible and sustainable fashion
Marseille - Free and colourful catwalk shows, open to all, feature collections where second-hand textiles reign supreme. In Marseille, Slow Fashion Week is making its rebellious, popular and sustainable mark on fashion.
"There is a sense of resourcefulness, upcycling, mutual support and community that works well here," explains Marion Lopez to AFP. Lopez is the co-founder of the event, whose second edition took place this week. The fashion professional worked for 15 years between Paris and factories abroad, and she has seen what goes on behind the scenes.
Back home in the south of France, she founded an 'eco-responsible fashion' school in 2021. She had one idea in mind: to reuse existing materials to create new things. Charlotte Labigne, co-founder of Slow Fashion Week with her, points out that "to produce a pair of new cotton jeans, you need 11,000 litres of water, so we use a huge amount of reclaimed denim".
This Marseille 'Fashion Week' is a far cry from the standards of Paris, Milan or New York. It showcases its uniqueness with an inclusive casting of models of various sizes and ages.
There is no frantic pace, "like in Paris with 12 shows a day", nor are there stars from the other side of the world. Here, the shows take place on a ferry or in a tram depot and often start late. The designers are local, and after the shows, the public is invited to join the party.
The public can also drop into designers' workshops, such as that of Juliette Moutte. She gives tours of her small boutique-workshop in the bohemian Camas district. There, she designs metal jewellery, some spiky like barbed wire, others finely woven like spiderwebs.
Her only raw material is old jewellery, which she sources herself. Moutte deconstructs, combines and reworks heavy, "very Marseille" men's Figaro chain bracelets and "coffee bean" chains with recycled glass stones. From these, she creates unique pieces that are "full of stories". "Upcycling has always existed here," she adds. "We are resourceful; we reuse, we swap, and we hunt for bargains. It's part of the local culture".
Dresses from sheets
Reuse is also the watchword for the Marseille-based brand 'Engagés Engagées', which creates its gathered blouses, loose-fitting trousers and dresses from textiles that local sorting centres are overflowing with.
A prime example is the white dress with blue polka dots presented by the brand's founder, Julie Genevois, which capitalises on a current trend. Her pieces are priced between 60 and 110 euros.
"For me, you can create anything with what is already there," assures Genevois, who favours timeless cuts for her garments. The aim is to "stop people from buying constantly and ever faster". The designer offers pieces in pale yellow, sky blue, and plenty of summery white. "We have many very sunny creations; that is the South for you," remarks Marion Lopez.
According to Marion Lopez, the city council is the "primary partner" of Slow Fashion Week. For a large part of the festival's events, it has made museums, public squares and even the Alcazar library available. These are places frequented by all Marseille residents. This is a logical choice because "we dress people on the street, for everyday life".
Workshops are held to involve the public, offering the chance to reflect on clothing consumption or to create one's own pieces. For example, on Thursday in an Emmaüs warehouse, participants were surrounded by second-hand clothes ready to be upcycled. Janne Lourdais, 24, was cutting pieces of fabric to decorate a basic T-shirt. Lourdais dresses "100 percent second-hand", which for her is a matter of both "ethics" and financial means. She notes that "this is becoming more common in Marseille; I think it suits the city..."
The textile industry is one of the most polluting in the world. It generates nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - more than international flights and maritime shipping combined - and consumes 4 percent of the world's drinking water.
This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
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