Evelyn Browne is a Dublin entrepreneur with a big idea.
After working in corporate marketing for 15 years, she switched lanes in the summer of 2020 when she opened s.l.o.w s.t.r.e.e.t, a Blackrock boutique that specialises in sustainable womenswear.
Rather than this being the realisation of a long-held ambition to own her own business, however, Evelyn says that s.l.o.w s.t.r.e.e.t. is a product of her passion for sustainability, as well as her conviction that Dublin is badly lacking in shops of this kind.
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“I'm a keen climate advocate,” she says. “I'm a vegetarian and I always shop very sustainably, so I was living that way myself, and I just felt that the sustainable fashion market is really underserved in Ireland compared to some of our European and even farther afield countries.
Evelyn has a proudly anti-fashion stance – while the high street retailers focus on short-term trends and disposable ‘fast fashion’, sustainable clothing is all about durability and clothes that will look as good in five or 10 years’ time as they do today. Hence the name, ‘slow street’.
“A lot of what we sell is what we call trans-seasonal,” she says. “Nothing is trend-led, and customers love that – it's totally neutral tones and they can see that they're going to get wear out of these things all year round – layer it up in winter, layer it down in summer.
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“We're trying to say to people, it's really about quality and not quantity,” she adds. “You don't need to be buying new t-shirts every summer - you should be getting years and years out of them. We talk to them about washing at low temperatures, washing their jeans not very often.”
The shop even has a line of products to help in prolonging the life of your clothes – fabric shavers to deal with balling, lint rollers and clothes brushes, for example.
Here are some tips from Evelyn on how you can have a stylish positive impact wardrobe:
1. Think about what fabrics you are choosing
Organic cotton does not destroy the land it grows on or poison the people who farm it.
Wool requires less washing as it repels dirt and odors. It is also extremely hard wearing
Linen production has very low overall environmental impact
Tencel is made from responsibly renewed wood pulp
2. Get longer from your clothes
Wash less. We have been taught to wash our clothes far more than we need to. This not only uses more water than we need but also wears out our favourite garments much more quickly. We encourage people to spot clean, air clothing out on the line and only wash when needed
Wash low. 30 degree washes are sufficient for most clothing unless heavily soiled. This uses less energy, protects the quality of the fabric and avoids shrinkage
Use gentle detergents. We do not need to be using the highly toxic detergents being sold to us. There are brilliant options that are effective and gentle on skin and clothing
Repair. Use a fabric shaver on your favourite wool jumpers to give them a new lease of life, invest in a sewing kit or find a good alteration place that can help you to get longer out of your most loved but worn items.
Repurpose. Again, a great alterations place can help you find new ways of wearing items that may no longer fit or need a lease of new life
3. Simplify your wardrobe
Try the 30/30 wardrobe challenge. Creating a small and manageable edit of clothes – 30 items to wear over one month can give you a new appreciation of the pieces you already own.
All too often we turn to buying new clothes when we feel overwhelmed and depressed by looking in our wardrobes. When in fact, we probably have lots of pieces we love but we just haven’t been getting use from them.
When you come to the end of the 30 days it can be really fun to rediscover the clothes you have put away, swapping pieces in and out as you go through the year.
4. Swap clothes with friends
Avoid clothing banks wherever possible and instead arrange to share clothes you not longer use with people you know.
5. Tran seasonal shopping
When shopping next, think to yourself - will I get wear out of this year-round? Not all clothing is suitable throughout the year but with our temperate climate, we can shop more cleverly, choosing pieces that can be layered up in winter and down in summer. Getting more bang for your buck and reducing your environmental impact by wearing more.
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