Slow fashion: time for a different pace
In the wake of the Corona crisis, there is much debate about the need for a more sustainable and conscious consumer culture. A trend that is very much in line with us and our brand mix. Welcome to slow fashion.
By Jeroen van Rooijen
The journey is slowly returning towards normality - the strict lockdown is being relaxed, people are coming back to daylight like vacuum-packed sausages, you can (with caution) go back to the restaurant or have a drink. And all business is going up again - although nobody really knows whether to expect an onslaught of pent-up consumerism or to exercise preventive restraint.
In all debates about restarting the private sector, however, one topic resonates: it is time for a new, more conscious and more sustainable way of consumption, according to many commentators. We should shop less and better. In particular, the fashion industry with its sick, overheated cycles and the ruinous price collapse within a current season has to renew itself, is often read.
However, this demand on the zeitgeist is not new: as early as 2012, the “NZZ” wrote in an article entitled “Quiet, please!” , «that this lemon cannot be squeezed any further. There are signs that lifestyle connoisseurs are no longer guided by sensations and bangs, but are looking for other qualities."
Should this happen, we will clap our hands enthusiastically. Because we have long been aware of the need for a slower pace of shopping. That's why we've had such brands in our range for a number of years - and the number is constantly growing. We're evolving away from the seasonal trend rush towards a more consistent, slower way of dressing that's more about long-term wardrobe building than over-the-top fashion-consciousness. Good clothes last a while - there's no point in replacing them before they've actually reached their sell-by date.
Some of our brands that live this philosophy belong to the Italian "Slowear" group . Slowear, made up of the word parts "slow" and "wear", has made it its mission to produce durable clothing of outstanding quality that is uncoupled from the hysterical moodiness of fashion. These include our tried-and-tested Incotex chinos – “World-class casual trousers” ( Gentlemen's Report N° 8, 2013 ) – or Zanone knitwear.
Other labels from our range also live the contemporary maxim of cultivated slowness. For example the Austrian duo Weber & Weber, whose comfortable jackets are re-edited practically unchanged every season. Or the English super knitter, John Smedley, whose consistently good crewnecks and turtlenecks have been among our bestsellers for years.
Those interested in more carefully made clothes of this type should also check out Scagliole knitwear, Boglioli jackets, Gherardi shirts or the DoppiaA collection. All of this is available in our Alferano Concept Store, which will reopen on May 12, 2020 after an eight-week break. Last but not least, you can of course also get the ultimate made-to-measure Slowear wardrobe there – from Alferano, what else!
We look forward to seeing you ... but please: take your time.
Jeroen van Rooijen is a freelance style critic and co-founder of the Alferano concept store in 2014.
