Love nothing more than updating your wardrobe but feel torn about fast fashion and the impact of the fashion industry on our planet?

Meet the HerCanberra Sustainable Fashion Swap—your chance to learn more about sustainable fashion while also coming away with a refreshed winter wardrobe that doesn’t cost the planet.

We’ve partnered with aMBUSH Gallery , Damsel & Sprout and Karinya House for Mothers and Babies to create a night to remember on Thursday 5 August that will include an illuminating all-star panel discussion, drinks, nibbles, DJs and, yes, an epic fashion swap.

Never heard of a fashion swap? It’s simple—you bring five items to donate on the night and leave with five items. It’s a sustainable and fun way to replace clothes, shoes and accessories you no longer wear but want to see go to a good home.

Tickets are $39+booking fee per person and include drinks, canapés and entry to our panel discussion, Consumer to Conscious: How can we build a sustainable wardrobe, and fashion swap where you’ll have a chance to come away with five fresh items.

Please note you must bring five items to the swap in order to take five items home. Tokens will be given to guests on arrival when you hand over your five items and will be used to ‘check out’ items at the end of the night.

All sizes and styles are welcome, with guests encouraged to consider their entire wardrobe for the swap, including jewellery, belts, shoes, boots, outerwear, bags and other accessories.

What’s more, the HerCanberra Sustainable Fashion Swap will be donating a percentage of ticket sales to Canberra’s own Karinya House for Mothers and Babies , a community based, not-for-profit organisation that provides safety, shelter and a positive support network for women. Every woman who is pregnant or parenting should be surrounded by the support
she needs.

As a 24-hour, seven day a week service, Karinya House is the only service of its kind, specifically for women in the region who are pregnant or parenting, offering case management services which may include residential and/or outreach based support services.

There will also be some very special ways to donate to Karinya House on the night and any clothes and accessories left over from the swap will be donated to second-hand pre-loved
fashion store Pandora’s at O’Connor. Pandora’s are one of Karinya’s valued service partners, and on occasion proceeds from sales are donated to Karinya House.

The HerCanberra Sustainable Fashion Swap is also generously supported by local businesses Peony N’ Pearl, Lerida Estate and Sweet Pea Catering.

HOW IT WORKS

Before the event

Choose five items from your wardrobe to swap at the event—they can be clothes, shoes or accessories. Ideally, these are quality items* you simply don’t wear any more but want to see go to a good home.

Thursday 5 August at 6 pm

Arrive at our Sustainable Fashion Swap drop-off point in ANU’s sleek Kambri
precinct to exchange your five items of clothing, shoes or accessories* for five
tokens (which will serve as your ‘money’ later on).

Please bring your items for the swap clean and folded in a neat pile.

6.30 pm

Once you’ve dropped off your items, grab a welcome drink and head upstairs for an all-star panel discussion—Consumer to Conscious: How can we build a sustainable wardrobe?

Featuring Taylor Pitsilos, owner of Designer Op Shop Emporium and Styled by Tala, Emma Batchelor, fashion journalist and author of Building a Conscious Wardrobe and Debby Harrington, stylist and Karinya House supporter, the panel will be moderated by HerCanberra’s own Emma Macdonald and will tackle issues around fast fashion, shopping sustainably and finding pieces to last a lifetime.

7.15 pm

After an illuminating discussion, head next door to second-hand nirvana—theHerCanberra Sustainable Fashion Swap.

The aMBUSH Gallery will be filled to the brim with your quality second-hand offerings and they’re yours for the taking—well, at least five of them.

Take your time to browse and try-on items while you listen to DJs from ANU’s own Vessel Collective, snack on canapés from Sweet Pea Catering and enjoy a glass of local wine from Lerida Estate.

Once you’ve found your five items, simply head to our ‘checkout’ to exchange your five tokens for the items which you’ll take home in your branded bag.

It’s a new wardrobe that doesn’t cost the planet.

Guidelines for items and the clothes swap process

*Please note that while our fashion swap is all about rehoming second-hand items, this does not include unwearable items such as stained or damaged clothes, shoes or accessories.

What can you bring to swap: Clothes, shoes and accessories of any size. This includes outerwear (coats and jackets), formalwear, shoes, boots, belts, jewellery, bags.
What not to bring: Broken/stained/ripped/damaged clothes, shoes or accessories. Underwear/lingerie. Swimwear. Makeup. Children’s clothes.

All items will be checked by our team on arrival to make sure they are up to scratch and while all items in good condition will be accepted regardless of size or style, damaged items will be refused a token, giving you less chances to snap up your favourite pieces in the swap.

Please bring your items clean and folded in a neat pile. Please be respectful and only bring items to swap that you yourself would deem quality finds.

Any questions? Email editor@hercanberra.com.au.

THE ESSENTIALS

What: The HerCanberra Sustainable Fashion Swap

When: Thursday 5 August from 6–10 pm

Where: aMBUSH Gallery, Kambri, ANU

Cost: $39+bf per person with the booking fee donated to Room to Read, a charity that supports girls’ education programs in Nepal, India, Laos, Sri Lanka and more.

MEET YOUR PANELLISTS

Consumer to Conscious: How can we build a sustainable wardrobe?

Taylor Pitsilos
Taylor Pitsilos is the founder of Style By Tala and co-founder of Designer Op Shop Emporium. Over the last decade of working in fashion she has grown her dedication to recycling vintage or pre-loved fashion and luxury consignment through her retail store, DOS Emporium (DOSE).

As the co-owner and head fashion buyer of DOSE, her day can lead her in many different directions. From editing DOSE’s seasonal Series Magazine, to conducting a creative photoshoot for their latest campaign, working the shop floor or being at a private buying appointment with a client. Once the business had really settled, she decided it was time to further her knowledge in the industry.

Taylor went on to study Personal Styling at the Australian Style Institute of
Melbourne. This now allows her to work creatively as a freelance stylist under the name of Style by Tala, as well as manage DOS Emporium.

Emma Batchelor
Emma Batchelor is a writer and author from Canberra. After completing a Bachelor of Medical Science (Hons) at the Australian National University and taking many a gap year to work and travel, she eventually embraced her desire to write. From 2016-2019 she edited and wrote for online publication Leiden, and in 2017 published Building a Conscious Wardrobe (and other fun things) a book championing conscious consumerism.

In May 2021 her first novel Now that I see you won the Australian/Vogel Literary Award. As well as writing, Emma works at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility supporting shareholders in Australian listed companies to make use of their rights to improve corporate behaviour on issues such as climate change, worker’s rights, human rights and cultural heritage.

Debby Harrington
Debby Harrington is a Canberra stylist and mum to Levi and Eliza. She studied at the Australian Style Institute and has been styling for five years.

Her style mantra is about building a capsule wardrobe filled with timeless, classic pieces that can be mixed and matched and worn on repeat. She says it’s all about buying less and choosing well to get a return on your wardrobe investment.

Debby describes her style as minimalist and doesn’t actually shop all that
often. When she’s not styling, she’s chasing her energetic kids around or doing
laundry.