Have you heard of the slow movement? Maybe not, considering how fast-paced we have all become with drive-through restaurants, banks, cleaners, and even funeral visitations! Not kidding. They exist. Look it up. But let me slow you down just for a moment and briefly tell you about the slow movement before we talk about slow fashion.
In 1986, McDonald’s opened its first location beside the famous Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy. Now, one would think this was welcomed news but for many Italians, especially the locals living in Rome, they were not happy. Enter Italian culinary writer, Carlo Petrini. Carlo protested the opening of McDonald’s in Italy, because he thought it would erode Italy’s culinary culture. This prompted him to launch the slow food movement, which today is active in 160 countries with the basic philosophy of preserving local food cultures and traditions as well as food production and preparation.
The slow food movement went on to spur other initiatives such as slow travel, slow design, slow companies, slow parenting, and slow cities of which there are now 236 cities across 30 countries that are categorized as slow cities. In short, the slow movement is about:
- doing things at the right pace or what in Italian would be called, doing things al tempo giusto
- savouring hours versus counting them down
- doing things as well as possible, not as fast as possible
- choosing quality over quantity in everything from work to parenting
From the slow movement also comes slow fashion, which we at Gentil Uomo fully embrace. Slow fashion is about being mindful when buying fashion as well as:
- buying better quality items less often
- respecting traditional textile arts and crafts
- choosing timeless fashion rather than trendy fashion
- being aware of ethical clothing production from materials to labour
At Gentil Uomo, our customers often ask us about the quality of our items. To learn more about the difference between a $49 shirt and $199 shirt, read why buy quality shirts. And to learn more about the difference between a $10 pair of socks and $35 pair read why buy quality socks.
Buying quality items is important but it’s also important in the slow fashion movement to properly take care of your clothes so they last longer. Hence, we leave you with some tips on how to take care of your clothes.
And in keeping with this blog theme, from time-to-time, slow down and as we say in Italian, do il bello far niente – translation – do nothing and simply enjoy the moment. You’ll be glad you did.
Alla prossima – until next time. Arrivederci.
