Electrolux and designer duo Rave Review inspire people to keep their clothes longer

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The most sustainable clothes are the ones you already have, but on average clothes are worn only ten times and thrown away long before they need to be ^[1]. That is why Swedish home appliance brand Electrolux wants to inspire consumers to break the pattern and take better care of their clothes. To demonstrate that used clothes still have value, Electrolux collaborated with Swedish fashion designer duo, Rave Review, to create a unique collection made from discarded clothing from the world's second largest garment graveyard - The Atacama Desert.

Globally, approximately 73% of all textile waste ends up in landfill or is incinerated ^[2]. The Atacama Desert in Chile, home of the second biggest garment graveyard worldwide – has lately turned into a symbol of the acceleration of fast fashion and the rise of textile waste. According to the UNECE ^[3], 21 billion tons of clothes end up in landfill every year. In the Atacama Desert alone, approximately 39,000 tonnes of clothes are discarded every year.

"Besides the challenges with fast fashion, it's clear that we need to change the way we use and take care of our clothes. We know from research that extending the life of our clothes by just nine months can reduce the carbon impact, the water impact, and the waste produced by 20-30 percent. There are different ways to do this: repair or upcycle old clothes, and air, steam, or wash clothes in a way that is more sustainable," said Vanessa Butani, VP Group Sustainability at Electrolux.

That is why Electrolux has teamed up with designer duo Rave Review, known for their colorful, upcycled and high-end collections, with a mission: Giving new life to discarded clothes retrieved from the Atacama garment graveyard. The result is the world's first Atacama upcycled fashion collection. The ambition is to put the spotlight on the growing problem of fashion waste and showcase an inspiring example that can spark a change in consumer behavior.

"We have always believed that in the future fashion cannot exist as it does today. I think we all must change in one way or another. When it comes to fashion, taking care of what we already have is probably the most tangible and easy way to do it," said Livia Schück, co-Founder and Creative Director at Rave Review.

Goal: Make clothes last twice as long with half the environmental impact by 2030
By modernizing care technology for all fabrics and inspiring better care habits, our aim is to halve the environmental impact of caring for clothes and prolong the average life of garments.

"Electrolux has a long-term strategy in place with the goal of reducing our climate impact significantly. As experts in clothing care, we are already developing advanced laundry technologies that make the clothes we wear last longer – and reduce both the water and energy used. But we as a company cannot provide the only solution: we hope we can inspire and educate consumers on how they can make the clothes they already have last longer, we want to do all we can to help drive this change," said Elisa Stabon, Care Experience Development Director at Electrolux.

Research shows that there is an urgent need to help people understand how best to care for their clothes and encourage as many people as possible to adopt more sustainable laundry practices: to wash less, steam more, wash full loads and at lower temperatures.

"If everyone made a small change, to break their pattern, each and every one of us could reduce our environmental impact from textiles. By lowering wash temperatures and switching to liquid detergent from powder could mean saving the equivalent of 50 kg of CO₂ per appliance per year. It could create a huge impact when scaled up to millions of consumers following the same example," Vanessa Butani ends.

For more information, please visit:
electrolux.com/breakthepattern

Note to editor/Additional information for the fashion vertical:

We have created a limited collection where every item is unique and made from discarded clothes salvaged from the Atacama Desert, to spark a conversation around the fact that we need to take better care of the clothes we already own. The collection will not be sold, our purpose was never to start a clothing brand, we wanted to create something together with Rave Review that could inspire people to look at the clothes in their wardrobe with new eyes and think about how to best take care of them.

"In this design, we wanted to reinforce the feeling of imperfections. That way, character is created in the fabric, which makes it much more fun and interesting to work with compared to new and flat fabric," said Josephine Bergqvist, co-founder and creative director at Rave Review.

About Rave Review:

The Swedish designer duo Rave Review is known for their upcycled collections and their innovative ways of transforming home textiles into desirable garments. One year after graduating from Beckmans College of Design, Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück started the brand in 2017, with a strong belief that the industry needs to become more sustainable.

Rave Review has become a trademark for upcycled collections and a hot name in the international fashion industry. They have been featured in Vogue, GucciFest, won awards and their collections have been worn by Kylie Jenner and Emma Watson. 

Note to editor/Additional information for the general news/sustainability vertical: 

In Europe, 70% of the clothes we throw away are because of irreversible damage such as color fading, stubborn stains or shrinking ^[4].

• 29% of people now regularly wash their clothes at 30 degrees or less.
• Only 14% say that they want to lower temperatures more often.
• 69% of Europeans are mainly washing their clothes at 40 degrees or more, with 12% washing regularly at 60 degrees.

Find the Electrolux reports here:

The truth about laundry, Better Living Report, Care Label Project 

[1] Electrolux. The Truth About Laundry. Stockholm: Electrolux, 2021. [https://admin.betterlivingprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Electrolux_TheTruthAboutLaundry_WhitePaper-1.pdf] (Accessed 2022-07-08) Electrolux. The Truth About Laundry. Stockholm : Electrolux, 2021. [https://admin.betterlivingprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Electrolux_TheTruthAboutLaundry_WhitePaper-1.pdf] (Accessed 2022-07-08)

[2] Ellen MacArthur Foundation. A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion's future 2017. Isle Of Wight: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, [https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy] (Accessed 2022-07-08).

[3] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Fashion and the SDGs:what role for the UN? Geneva: UNECE, 2019.  [https://unece.org/DAM/RCM_Website/RFSD_2018_Side_event_sustainable_fashion.pdf] (Accessed 2022-07-08).

[4] AEG. Care Label Project Lookbook 2017. Stockholm: Electrolux Group 2017. [https://www.aeg.se/siteassets/common-assets/04.-care/inspiration/clp/care_label_project_lookbook.pdf] (Accessed 2022-07-08)AEG. Care Label Project Lookbook 2017. Stockholm: Electrolux Group 2017. [https://www.aeg.se/siteassets/common-assets/04.-care/inspiration/clp/care_label_project_lookbook.pdf] (Accessed 2022-07-08)

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact Electrolux Press Hotline, +46 8 657 65 07.

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