By Ann Marie Newton for QHQ
Watching BBC breakfast news in early December 2019 I was struck by one story featuring environmental charity Hubbub and their views about Christmas Jumpers (a jumper is a sweater for anyone reading this who was wondering). Their main messages were about Christmas Jumpers being an icon of fast fashion, being mainly made of plastic and that 2 out of 5 are only worn once. This piqued my interest as someone who worked in the fashion industry for so long, and more importantly as a fan of the Christmas Jumper.
Firstly, who are Hubbub? My initial thought was the fundraising charity also called Hubbub, but no this Hubbub are actually an environmental charity who are “Inspiring healthier, greener lifestyles across fashion, food, homes and neighbourhoods.” They have run a number of campaigns including working with Starbucks to charge 5p for a disposable coffee cup, and a pop-up pollution pavilion in Covent Garden which is an immersive art experience showing what air pollution looks like.
Looking at Hubbub’s claims in a little more detail, firstly about the Christmas Jumper and fast fashion. Hubbub claim that the Christmas Jumper is one of the ‘worst examples’ of fast fashion, although they don’t give detail of exactly how this fashion is ‘fast’ I get an impression that the main concern is that it is a seasonal item, so only worn perhaps once or twice and then discarded. It appears as though Hubbub are using the Christmas Jumper to highlight some of the main issues in fashion today, that clothes can be seen as disposable, they are novelty and people will only wear it once or twice. Additionally, the problem with fibre shedding in the wash. So far, the focus has been on ‘plastic’ fibres but shedding also happens with natural fibres too.
Hubbub project co-ordinator Sarah Divall said, "Fast fashion is a major threat to the natural world and Christmas jumpers are particularly problematic as so many contain plastic.” What is this plastic? In this case Hubbub are referring to acrylic, a synthetic fibre derived from oil which was introduced as an alternative to wool. A lot of our jumpers are now made using acrylic fibre.
As with all textiles & fashion products the eco credentials are not so black and white, but rather involve complex manufacturing processes. There are of course pros and cons to using acrylic fibre. The pros are it is technically a ‘vegan’ fibre in that it does not involve animals to produce it, acrylic is less expensive to manufacture than wool, it has excellent heat retaining properties and can have good light and colourfastness. For the cons, it is derived from oil, a limited resource, it involves chemical manufacturing, and is technically a plastic, acrylic can be prone to pilling with washing and wearing. As mentioned, depending on how it is manufactured acrylic fibres can shed in the wash, thereby entering the water system and potentially the food chain.
So, fibre content aside, what else can make the Christmas Jumper sustainable? Firstly, wear your jumper as much as you can, don’t throw your festive wear away after one or two outings. You can store your Christmas Jumper away for next year. Next, don’t wash it so much, red wine stains aside, don’t feel compelled to throw your jumper in the wash after every wear, this will save water, energy & reduce that fibre shedding. If you do want a new look, buy a pre-loved Christmas Jumper at a charity or retro store. Lastly you can also customise any regular jumper or top to be more festive.
Christmas Jumpers are a lot of fun, can be a talking point and used by Save the Children to raise much needed charitable funds “to change the future for children” Since 2012 Save the Children has designated a Friday in December as “Christmas Jumper Day” and used this as a fun way for people to raise money . In their campaign this year Save the Children promoted sustainable ways to have fun with Christmas Jumper day, including being able to request a special donation bag, tips on customising tops and encouraging swapping jumpers within schools and workplaces.
Sarah Button-Stephens who heads up Christmas Jumper day at Save the Children commented: “Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day is our flagship fundraising event and over the years has raised more than £25m to help some of the world’s most disadvantaged children. We are really proud of this fun, festive event and love the fact that more than 5m people across the UK get involved each year. 2019 was our most sustainable Christmas Jumper Day to date”
Personally, I remember having Christmas Jumper days at work, lots of laughter, photos and fun checking out who was wearing what. It would be a shame to lose this in the name of sustainability. One of the joys of fashion is that we can make an individual statement, show our personality, and have fun. It would be so boring if we all wore the same thing as each other all day every day.
As mentioned, there are a lot of ways to be more eco conscious with our Christmas Jumpers. To make this easier, and to develop the fun factor that Christmas Jumpers bring, I am currently fundraising for a pop-up Christmas Jumper to be piloted in London this year. The idea is that the Christmas Jumper store will be a destination for all your Christmas Jumper needs---here you can donate, rent or buy preloved Christmas Jumpers. There will be classes and workshop sessions to customise your own jumpers and tops, so you can enjoy a social gathering, perhaps learn some new skills and express your creativity, all while feeling good about maintaining the spirit of Christmas in an eco-friendlier way.
If you are interested in being involved in our Christmas Jumper pop up, keep up to date with the project or would like to open a pop up near where you live, please do get in touch by emailing :
annmarie@q-hq.com
[1] Hubbub website: https://www.hubbub.org.uk/
[2] BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50682657
[3] Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day website: https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/christmas-jumper-day/get-involved
[4] Web archive Save the Children: https://web.archive.org/web/20121202064015/http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/2012-11/celebrities-join-first-christmas-jumper-day-0