Take Christine Rathert, pulling a college-style jacket from a pile. As an example of many who came to the dress swap party that evening for reasons of sustainability. “You make funny finds here. And you get rid of your old things,” says the 46-year-old. “Upcycle your Style” is the name of the Green City event to which the Munich environmental organization has invited people in the one-world house.
Here, clothes not only change hands for free, you can also upcycle them straight away. That’s what it means when old fabrics are given a new, ideally more beautiful form of existence by the hands of a creative person. “We want to provide education. And give people everyday knowledge that they can use at home,” says Christina Pirner, who heads the project. The women of Munich – the women are clearly in the majority – can learn how to repair, shorten or upgrade second-hand fashion on four sewing machines.
Secondhand fashion? upcycling? clothes swap? All these terms stand as an alternative to the environmental sins of the fast fashion industry and the consumer mania, which is particularly difficult to escape this week, when Black Friday lures with discounts. “Households in Germany sort out more than 1.5 billion pieces of clothing every year – that’s more than twelve pieces of clothing per person,” writes the Munich Waste Management Company (AWM) on its website. That sounds like a huge pile of stuff that is regularly shed.
The good news: you can do a lot in Munich to give your clothes a longer life, from the Allude label’s “Cashmere Clinic” to the offers of Caritas. In Oberländerstraße, for example, Barbara Heinze has specialized in repairing outdoor clothing, and she upcycles discarded models into purses or bags. An institution is the upcycling shop “Polyform” (always on Saturdays) in Baaderstraße. The Munich label “Space for a Name” also proves how stylish upcycling fashion can be. And in the upcycling studio “Bellevue Couture”, which emerged from the sewing workshop of the social cooperative “Bellevue di Monaco”, refugee women make accessories from the patterns of upholstery fabrics that are otherwise used to cover elegant armchairs (pop-up sale on November 27th in Café Bellevue di Monaco at Müllerstrasse 6). Project manager Kissi Baumann confirms that there is growing interest in the topic: “And I hope the wave will get even bigger.”
Green City has been hosting clothes swap parties for 13 years
Upcycling is booming, and clothing swapping is back too. Perhaps in times of inflation and the energy crisis, this cost-free way of updating one’s wardrobe will take on a different meaning. In recent years, the swapping of clothing in Munich has already experienced a number of forms – from small private circles to the “Swap in the City” event series, to which a private broadcaster and a women’s magazine also joined a cosmetics group as organizers in 2012. People swapped because it was happening. Because everyone was doing it. Because there were such pretty goodie bags. The fact that clothing can be kept in circulation by swapping clothes played a rather subordinate role at these events.
Green City has been hosting clothes swap parties for 13 years. Up to 900 kilos of used clothing change hands at each event. By swapping only two pieces of clothing instead of buying new ones, each participant can save 30 kilograms of CO₂, explains project manager Pirner. The measures against the corona virus had imposed a forced break on the barter parties. But if you look at the crowd of people crowding around the tables in the one-world house or searching through the clothes rails in a concentrated manner, that obviously couldn’t dampen motivation.
On the contrary: “Due to the pandemic and the energy crisis, the mindset has changed. You suddenly realize that you don’t need so many new things anymore,” says Janet Reichardt, who offers style and color advice under the name “Frollein Wundertüte”. In October, she accompanied a clothing swap at Salon F, the coworking space for women on Sonnenstrasse. Each of the 20 women had brought ten to 15 parts to swap. They laughed, chatted, exchanged. And were happy when they later discovered a photo on Instagram in which another wore the blouse that had previously been left in their own closet.
“What’s exciting about swapping clothes is the circularity, and more and more people are interested in that,” says Stephanie Müller. The Munich textile artist was already upcycling as a schoolgirl. As a lecturer at the University of Art and Design in Linz, she dealt with exploitation by the fashion industry. At exchange parties in the Aubinger cultural center Ubo 9, Müller likes to sit down at the sewing machine to reveal tricks and tips to others.
In the one-world house, participants can learn how to upcycle clothes on the sewing machine.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
In the one-world house, Mirjam has to raise her voice to counter the beats from the DJ desk. She’s already gotten a track jacket, cropped blazer and crochet sweater. “They have cool things here,” says the 16-year-old. A few meters further on, two apparently fashion-conscious women take turns holding a denim jacket in front of their upper bodies. Apparently, shop talk is going on about who is better off with the part. But you also see an elderly lady dragging a damaged shopping bag behind her. Or the man with the worn jacket who doesn’t really dare to grab something.
The Caritas clothing stores and second-hand shops are also experiencing high demand and a high willingness to donate. And then there is the new “Fashion Truck”. In October, the bus, which was equipped with donated clothing, had its first use in a refugee accommodation in Unterhaching. “People shouldn’t feel like they’re getting their stuff out of a box, but out of a colorful store,” says Rey Incienzo. The fashion designer had the idea and is in charge of the project at Caritas. In February, as an addition to the bus, an inclusive shop with a studio will open, in which donated clothing will be upcycled. Incienzo also wants to drive to the city’s women’s and men’s dormitories with his rolling boutique as soon as possible.
Many Munich residents are concerned that prices are rising. The need to save – suddenly it’s on everyone’s lips. The second-hand shops should also have increased their prices, reports textile artist Müller. “The exchange of clothes is a small enclave.” A place where you don’t have to be ashamed of being poor. “My customers are not primarily concerned with money, but with appreciation,” says Gundi Kalmer, who has been running the upcycling shop “Polyform” in Baaderstrasse for 18 years. They don’t pat themselves on the back because they buy sustainably, but actually think it’s a shame to throw away well-preserved things. That’s why they bring grandma’s old lace, for example, so that Kalmer can use it to turn a denim skirt into a favourite. She says: “There are also emotions involved.”