Photo Lief Pribicevic
Splore is on a mission to reduce festival costume waste.
Typically costume attire is purchased cheaply, worn once, and then trashed – entering the waste system.
To bring awareness to the issue, Splore has partnered with New Zealand non-profit organisation Fashion Revolution NZ to present ‘Costume Revolution’, a movement to transform the culture of festival fashion.
Costume Revolution will host Aotearoa’s Greatest Costume Swap, and every Splorer is invited to bring a pre-loved costume item and swap it at Splore.
“Costume Revolution hopes to inspire Splorers to buy less, swap and borrow more, and to use what they already have. It’s about creating a character, costume, or statement piece that has significance and is worn again and again”, says Splore sustainability manager Anna Mathieson.
Mathieson says partnering with Fashion Revolution NZ to develop Costume Revolution was a real eye-opener in terms of discovering the real impact of ‘dollar shop polyester costumes’.
Costume Revolution is developed with a nod to the hugely successful global ‘Fashion Revolution’ initiative, which takes action for a more sustainable fashion industry.
“Like the fashion industry, the social and environmental issues around costumes never fall on a single person, brand, or company”, says Natalia Bertolo, assistant country coordinator of Fashion Revolution NZ.
“Costume Revolution is an accessible, inclusive and positive way to take action and empower people to reduce some of the social and environmental impacts caused by what we dub “fast festival fashion”, she says.
Splorers are invited to bring a preloved garment or accessory to Splore, and swap it onsite at Costume Revolution in Camp HQ, where Aotearoa’s Greatest Costume Swap will be hosted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Costume Revolution will also host free “bejazzling”, upcycling and informative workshops, where Splorers can learn how to give a garment or accessory a new lease on life with expert know-how from the Fashion Revolution NZ team.
