From the early 2020s onward, we have encountered the term “sustainable fashion” more and more often. We hear how essential it is for protecting our planet and how important it is to practice it. Yet, despite this, we receive relatively little information about what it actually means. In this article, we will explain and demonstrate how you can incorporate its principles into your own life.

To understand the importance of sustainable fashion, we first need to be familiar with the concept of fast fashion. As the internet and social media have developed, so-called micro-trends have appeared one after another. Week by week, new, smaller style directions and clothing items emerge and quickly become popular among consumers. People develop a compulsion to follow these trends, and fast fashion brands have emerged to satisfy this demand. 

However, several new problems have arisen along with all this. Fast fashion items are produced in factories where workers labour under inhumane conditions for minimal pay, which is already very disheartening on its own. In addition, at least 80 percent of the materials used in the clothing produced there contain polyester. As a result, these garments easily tear or develop holes, and sooner or later they end up in landfills. Thus, they actively contribute to the pollution of our environment.

This raises the question: how can we avoid these two problems? The solution is sustainable fashion. Its main goal is to minimize the waste generated in the field of clothing.

We can incorporate this fashion sustainability into our lives in two ways. The first method is to buy clothes, shoes, and accessories exclusively from sustainable fashion brands. The main priority of these brands is to use production methods that minimize waste generated during the process, ensure ethical working conditions, and guarantee the long-lasting quality of their products. However, because they adhere to these principles, their items must be sold at higher prices. Naturally, this may not always be ideal for a university student’s budget, but it is definitely achievable as a long-term goal. In the future, if possible, we should aim to support local brands, as this helps ensure their survival and development.

The second method of practicing the principles of sustainable fashion is shopping in thrift stores. Here, older but still good-quality clothes are resold, which helps reduce textile waste. Fortunately, in Pécs we can find several outstanding thrift shops, and we would now like to introduce our personal favorites.

Négy Évszak thrift store is one of the most well-organized thrift shops we have ever encountered. It is located on Citrom Street and consists of four separate shops. All the clothes are hung on hangers, making it easy to browse through the selection, and the variety is always large. The best thing about this store is that throughout the week the prices decrease day by day, so toward the end of the week you can find well-conditioned, beautiful pieces for very cheap.

The second hand department store on Várkonyi Nándor Street has everything you need in a good thrift shop: it is hanger-organized, large, and cheap. The only problem is that no matter how many times we go, we can never manage to look through the entire selection.

Tuti Turi is a true retro, bulk-style thrift shop. The clothes are placed in large bins, and you have to dig through them yourself to find pieces that suit your taste, so we recommend wearing rubber gloves while searching. If you would like to visit, you can find it on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street, behind the Market Hall.

Finally, we must mention the latest winner of the K20 Kirakat (K20 Shop-and-Window) project: Kantár Vintage. This extremely charming shop opened its doors on September 2 on Király Street. The store’s main goal is to combine sustainability, fashion, and community. In addition to a curated selection of high-quality vintage clothes and accessories, it also offers workshops and style consultations. It is definitely worth visiting as soon as possible, since we can enjoy its offerings until the end of December 2025.

Practicing the principles of sustainable fashion is essential for protecting our planet, so whenever possible, we should aim to build our dream wardrobe in the most eco-conscious way. We can assure you that staying fashionable is achievable even without following micro-trends or buying from fast fashion brands.

Photos: Éva Volford