Clothes Swap & Interactive Workshops with the T-REX Project

A garment’s life is a journey, and each has its own story. Break the fast fashion cycle and reduce the industry’s negative impact on the planet by shopping and swapping your next look instead!

For this edition, we're joining forces with the T-REX Project and Aalto University, who will be hosting two interactive workshops that invite you to reflect on personal meanings and challenges through experiences of your own clothes. There will also be an opportunity to explore upcycling and recycling by creating your own story tags for used garments, where you can learn about different options available for garments you no longer wear.

How to join the swap? 

Drop off your pre-loved items at the Fashion for Good Museum (Rokin 102, Amsterdam) from May 1 - May 6 (daily between 11 am - 5 pm). We ask you to please hand in your items in the days prior to the event so we can make sure everything is checked and ready before the swapping starts! 

Clothes Swap rules:

You can hand in a maximum of 5 items per person 

The following types of clothing are NOT accepted:

• Underwear
• Swimwear
• Company workwear 
• Fur 
• Shoes in bad condition

Clothes must be clean and washed

Torn, stained or worn out clothing will not be accepted

We will categorise the clothing handed in one of the following categories:

• Yellow:
• worth 1 token
• Red:
• worth 2 tokens 
• Blue:
• worth 3 tokens

Example of token system: you bring in 2 yellow items (=worth 2 tokens), 2 red items (=worth 4 tokens) and 1 blue item (=worth 3 tokens). This gives you a total of 9 tokens available for ‘buying’ your new items! You could spend this on 9 yellow items, or 3 blue items for example.  

About the workshops:

Workshop 1: What makes clothes meaningful to you?

Engage in a collective writing and drawing activity to explore the personal significance of clothing. Respond to prompts on a second-hand shirt laid flat and participate in conversations that uncover deeper meanings and challenges associated with clothes. The workshop is led by designer-researcher Kasia Gorniak from Aalto University. 

Workshop 2: Actionable Stories - Why do I upcycle/recycle? 

This activity focuses on the end (and a new beginning) of the garment story. Explore the concept of upcycling and recycling as you handpick different end-of-life garments and share your thoughts with others on how to create a new beginning for the garment by creating your own story-tags. The workshop is led by doctoral researcher Elina Lewe from Aalto University. 

About the T-REX Project: The workshops were developed by Aalto University (Espoo, Finland) as part of the EU-funded T-REX Project. The project brings together major players from the textile industry to create an EU blueprint for sorting and recycling of household textile waste. Head here to learn more: trexproject.eu 

Host or Publisher Fashion for Good