Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Now in its fifth year, Oxfam’s Second Hand September campaign highlights the environmental impact of fast fashion by encouraging more of us to buy and wear vintage. The message has sunk in. According to a report by GlobalData, global sales of pre-owned clothes rose by 18 per cent last year. Nowadays, putting together an outfit from pre-worn pieces is not just about thrift, nostalgia or allegiance to an obscure subculture. It is proof that you are part of the burgeoning circular economy.Is it time to do the same for household textiles? The excesses of fast fashion are well publicised. In the UK, it is estimated that 350,000 tonnes of clothing are jettisoned into landfill annually. Less well known is the amount of waste produced by homewares. According to a 2019 Waste and Resources Action Plan report (the most recent to isolate statistics for homewares), 47 per cent of textiles in UK landfill come from soft furnishings — rugs, curtains, bedding. This amounts to 391,000 teetering tonnes of discarded homewares annually. “Fast” interiors are just as wasteful as fashion. The difference is that we aren’t talking about it.Jules Haines would like that to change. Her online business, Haines Collection, sells surplus fabric stock from high-end labels such as GP&J Baker that would otherwise be destined for the dump. Since 2020, more than 33,816 metres of fabric — end of line designs, imperfect prints, antiques and remnants — have been bought and rehomed. Orders are dispatched from the manufacturers, reducing unnecessary emissions. The interiors industry in the UK is valued at more than £13.6bn. “That tells you something about the scale of consumption we are dealing with,” says Haines. Her epiphany came while working for a textile brand. “I witnessed first-hand some of the unsustainable practices that go on behind the scenes . . . Waste is seen as an end of life product but I learnt that it can also be part of the manufacturing process.” (This applies to techniques such as rotary screen printing, says Charlie Sharpley of Fermoie, one of the brands represented by Haines. “We only print to order. But it can take at least two to three metres before you achieve the ideal colour and impression.”)Companies now see value in appearing on our website, which can form part of their own sustainability strategyHaines says she encountered resistance to start with. “I felt as if I was shouting to an audience that didn’t want to listen.” Waste is a “sensitive subject”, particularly with image-aware luxury brands that are concerned about releasing stock on to a secondary market. Haines’s persistence paid off. She now works with more than 100 designers of wallpapers, fabrics and accessories. Fashion etailers, such as Vestiaire or The RealReal in the US, have made buying second-hand slick, attractive — and easy. Haines is doing the same for interiors by “respectfully rehoming luxury surplus in a way that isn’t brand damaging . . . Companies now see value in appearing on our website, which can form part of their own sustainability strategy, as well as reaching new audiences.”In the UK, the government is considering an extended producer responsibility, or EPR, scheme for textiles, based on similar models operating in the EU. This would hold companies accountable for collecting, sorting and recycling textiles. “Legislation and fines would reduce waste in the industry. Until then, it’s going to be about changing the way we shop,” says Haines. According to another Wrap survey, only 4 per cent of us buy second-hand home textiles. Haines is spreading the modern “make do and mend” ethos through social media and DIY tutorials. For designers of a new generation, such as Joanne Brierley, who began her career at antiques dealer Howe London, re-use is a way to challenge current business models. “I like the idea of disrupting the status quo by creating a textile brand that makes use of different waste streams,” says Brierley. She has put discarded sailcloths, antique rugs and tarpaulins to work as “sturdy” upholstery for clients and hopes to do the same using fashion surplus. Later this month, designer Chloe Jonason will be teaching how to turn remnants into lampshades at the online design school, Create Academy. Based in London and the Cotswolds, antiques dealer William Tunnicliffe does a brisk trade in second-hand designer curtains, which he sells through his Instagram account: Williamwoldscot. Classic prints by established houses such as Colefax and Fowler or Bennison are his best sellers — especially among millennials who seek fulsomely chintzy 1980s designs. “There’s a nostalgia for the prints my clients grew up with. They know the fabrics will last for decades.”Designer Walid al Damirji has built his homewares and fashion label on the alchemy of re-use. At his west London workshop, remnants and offcuts — linens, shirting, tapestries, shards of needlepoint “on self destruct” — are heaped in vivid piles, like a Dickensian rag trader. These fragments of the past, sourced through a network of dealers, are cleaned, repaired and restored before being upcycled into intricate, layered cushions or upholstery on antiques. People pontificate about the meaning of luxury. Perhaps this is the real thing — turning waste into something beautifulIt began when he inherited a set of printed slip covers from his great grandmother, which al Damirji turned into blinds. His designs now sell at Bergdorf Goodman, Liberty and etailer Abask. “People pontificate about the meaning of luxury. Perhaps this is the real thing — turning waste into something beautiful.”Salvaged fabrics conjure the “always-there” feel that clients increasingly crave, adds interior designer Brandon Schubert. He has turned kaftans and auction-bought weaves into upholstery and artworks. Schubert acknowledges the interiors business thrives on newness — and consumption. “But there’s a large cohort of designers and clients who feel differently . . . For us, it is about a balance of modernity and authenticity, which can’t possibly be achieved with a room full of new stuff.” Vintage textiles are key. “They add richness and soul.” Designer and eco-paint producer Edward Bulmer agrees. A proponent of slow decorating, he argues that for re-use to become mainstream our perception of interior design, based on flawless images promulgated on social media, has to change. “It might sound a bit ivory tower, but old fabrics bring an individuality and imagined narrative to a home that makes it interesting,” he says, gesturing to the jewel-hued sari-bedecked windows of his own home. “I would advocate zero waste,” he continues. “But that’s not achievable — at the moment. We do have choices, though. We can always do things more ecologically. Repurposing and re-using can only be a good thing.”Find out about our latest stories first — follow @FTProperty on X or @ft_houseandhome on Instagram
