It combines ethical shopping, bargain hunting and social networking - and it's the hottest fashion trend. Jess Cartner-Morley reports on the joys of swapping.Welcome to 2007's hottest fashion trend: swapping instead of shopping. Clothes-swapping parties, which have been bubbling away for several years, are set to leap on to the radar with this month's British launch of the first large-scale, user-friendly swapshop, Visa Swap. The credit card company Visa and British green organisation TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) have honed the woolly notion of swapping clothes with friends into a high-fashion swapping event.
This week, Visa's swapshop will open its doors to members who have already donated their own fashion swag to the store, so they can spend the points on their "credit card": the points awarded for the value of the clothes donated. Names such as Mischa Barton, Naomi Campbell, Peaches Geldof, Sadie Frost, Lily Cole and Kelly Osborne have donated clothes. Style advisers will be on hand to help with alterations and customisation.
This year there has been a surge of interest in ethical issues around shopping, particularly regarding landfill and the link to global warming. The negative impact of the 900,000 tonnes of shoes and clothes that are thrown away in Britain each year is beginning to filter into consumer consciousness. The $1.7 billion Australians spend on clothing and accessories each year is also turning into a landfill problem: just look at the bags bulging with discards dumped outside charity bins.
Until now, it has been assumed that eco-consciousness is at loggerheads with the passion for bargain-hunting and fast fashion that fuelled the continuing chain-store boom. But a swap event is an opportunity for guilt-free shopping.
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