It is no secret that despite being bombarded by clever marketing to make us think more stuff will make us happier, buying more and moving faster only leads to stress, burnout and poor health. In reaction to this realisation, people are beginning to move back towards the ‘less is more’ way of living, with books like Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up turning into bestsellers. Slow living is both a philosophy and lifestyle choice that focuses on living a ‘slower’ life rich in purpose and meaning, with an emphasis on quality over quantity to live a deeper and more sustainable life. Slow fashion is just one element of this cultural shift towards a new pace, a revolt against the consumerist and materialist pressures pushed on us by modern society today.

Living slower and appreciating everything more has been a way of life for traditional cultures like Zen Buddhism since almost the beginning of time, so it is exciting to see this belief gaining momentum in spaces from food to architecture and everything in between. The below quote from the Art of Slow Living sums the slow movement pretty well:

“It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savouring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting.”

Understanding and appreciating the story behind each bite of food we eat and each item we buy brings a much deeper level of gratitude for the craftsmanship and labour that went into it. From this comes a much deeper level of joy in our consumption choices. Enjoying the slow is about relishing the beauty of the imperfect, the handmade, and the local. It is not always possible in our modern world, but it is a nice thing to try!

As well as having positive implications on our own wellbeing, the beauty of the slow movement is that it naturally encourages sustainability. By buying less and buying better, we are using less of our planets finite resources to produce the goods that tend to end up in landfill after a few months of use.

My clever friend and fellow Wellingtonian Grace Carden-Horton has written a piece on this movement, and how it relates to fashion in particular. I thought it would be useful to share her article below as part of the Sunday Projects Journal, as well as some imagery she created to accompany the article. If you are interested in learning more, there is also a good Ted talk about ‘slowness’ on YouTube here by Carl Honore.

I am really looking forward to seeing the impacts of the slow philosophy on how we approach life, what we perceive as success, and what goods and services we choose to consume. Hopefully we can all try enjoy doing less but doing it better.

Hope you take the time to really relish reading Grace’s words sitting down with a fresh brewed cuppa!

Josie X