As part of the free We Invented The Weekend Festival in Manchester this weekend, British clothing brand Community Clothing will take over a space in the Media City Quayside outlet mall, running the brand’s first ever swap shop and second hand shop.
Festival visitors will be invited to bring in their used Community Clothing t-shirts, sweatshirts or hoodies and exchange them for tokens which can be used to swap items for second-hand Community Clothing garments featured within the pop-up. Alternatively, visitors can use tokens for money off both new and second-hand items. The pop up will also showcase both new and pre-loved Community Clothing collections for customers to view and purchase.
The swap shop initiative is part of the brand’s commitment to reducing waste and promoting circular shopping behaviours. Patrick Grant, Founder of Community Clothing, says ‘Moving to a circular model from the current linear model is the most important step we need to take in the world of clothes and fashion. Going back to some of the great practices of the past is a great and easy first step. We know we make amazing quality clothes that will get better with age so we’re delighted to be trialling a swap shop and second hand shop for our customers.’
Community Clothing is based in Blackburn and today works with 42 UK clothing and textile factory partners. Of these 14 are within an hour of the Manchester pop up and the brand hopes that the event will also help highlight the benefits of local clothing production, both for the many jobs it supports and its role in reducing environmental impact.
In addition illustrator and friend of the brand Will Broome will be on hand doodling on t-shirts and posters for customers. Will has worked with the likes of Vans and Gucci and is best known for creating the Miss Marc character for American fashion designer Marc Jacobs.
Community Clothing founder (and Great British Sewing Bee judge) Patrick Grant will also be in residence for the weekend helping in the shop and challenging customers at ping pong (utilising the next door ping pong centre to borrow a table).
ABOUT COMMUNITY CLOTHING:
Community Clothing is a British clothing brand and social enterprise founded in 2016 by award winning clothing designer and judge on BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee Patrick Grant. Community Clothing do good things for people and communities in the UK, creating jobs where they’re needed most. The mission is simple; to sell great quality clothes at prices people can afford; to make these clothes in the best British factories from the finest natural materials; and by doing this to create work and support skilled jobs in regions of the UK that need them most.
In short, Community Clothing sell great quality clothes, at affordable prices and by doing so create loads of fantastic jobs in places that really need them. To date Community Clothing have created 279,000 hours of work and supported 1,880 jobs. Community Clothing have a network of 42 partner factories all over the UK, located predominantly in the Northwest, Yorkshire, the East Midlands and South Wales.
Community Clothing has developed a unique business model that keeps costs super low, enabling the brand to make clothes in the very best UK factories from the best materials, and still sell them at affordable price. The unique business model utilises Off-Peak Production, creates seasonless, brilliant basics, supports ultra local supply chains and promotes radical simplicity.
ABOUT WE INVENTED THE WEEKEND:
Up until the 19th century, everyone in the UK worked a 6-day week. In 1843, workers’ rights activists launched a campaign to finish early on Saturdays in Greater Manchester. They won, and in doing so, invented the weekend – a gift to workers the world over. We Invented the Weekend is marking this enormous achievement with a new and imaginative free festival from Salford. One massive, colourful, exciting weekend of music, theatre, sport, workshops, dancing, laughs, and more to celebrate the joy of free time.
We Invented the Weekend is funded by Salford City Council, MediaCity (a Peel Media Ltd and Landsec partnership), GMCA Culture Fund, Bupa and supported by Salford’s Culture & Place Partnership, a cross-city collective delivering Suprema Lex, Salford’s strategy for culture, creativity and place which is led by The Lowry, Arts Council England, Salford City Council, Peel Media Ltd and the University of Salford. The event delivery partner is HemingwayDesign who hold an impressive track record of delivering large-scale public engagement events across the country. We Invented the Weekend is a true partnership.
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