INTERVIEW #6 CAMELIA DEWAN
I met Camelia on a seminar about the concept of climate refugees where I got very impressed about her knowledge regarding the complexity of the term based on her field work in Bangladesh. She’s an environmental anthropologist (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) and have spent several month’s in Bangladesh so I got curious about her interest in fashion since Bangladesh is one of the countries where a lot of clothes being produced. And I was right, she knew a lot about the topic but she also had a private sense of fashion and an overall interest in clothes. Married to a Norwegian man, her mix of culture and sense of quality in the way she dressed really impressed me. It was an honour to interview her.
What’s your relationship with clothes?
My relationship with clothes has changed. I transited from wanting to keep up with the changing fashions of Stockholm, of trying to ‘fit in’, to have a more time-less style. I felt stressed when trying to follow the trends here in Stockholm. People care more about clothes here than my fellow students in the UK, where I lived for many years while studying. For the Swedish fashion consumer there are a few nuances you need to follow, not very evident, that’s why you can easily be out of fashion. I can’t follow that anymore. Now it’s more about being comfortable and something I can wear at work to look professional. I don’t wear jeans that much, I already look young so try I to look older. It’s important for me that the clothes I wear have natural fibre. I have a preference for organic cotton, wool and silk. Clothes with that material I wear for a very long time. I want to wear the same things for 20 years. When I buy something I actually think about if it’s trendy now or long lasting.
How would you describe your style?
I don’t know how to describe my style. I love cardigans, I wear them a lot at work. I love dresses too. Because I’m quite petit it’s mostly Filippa K and Other Stories. Their size fit me.
How would you describe your closet?
My closet is seasonal. Now for winter there is more jumpers and clothes made out of cashmere and wool. I use sweater stone. It’s the perfect tool. You use it on your clothes to remove old fibre on the surface and the clothes will look new. I like to knitting too. I made the jumper I’m wearing now. When I did my PhD I was knitting quite a lot, it felt great seeing the results of one’s time. I like Norwegian knitting patterns – they’re beautiful and challenging. When visiting my inlaws in Norway, I always admired the Norwegian knitted jumpers everyone was wearing and I wanted one for myself too. I stayed with my husband’s aunt in London so she taught me how to knit while I was doing my PhD. I also have conference clothes such as dresses made out of silk. I use them for formal occasations or when I want to dress up. My daughter is 19 months and I still use my maternity clothes when I’m with her – it’s ok to get food and snot and them and they’re easy to wash! ! I use that part of my closet the most since she’s messy. I guess you can divide it into work clothes and home clothes. I don’t have a lot of nice clothes for my free time, most of that I spend with my daughter.
I have sari wardrobe as well. It’s just the last three years we’ve settled into our own place – bringing everything we own into one place. While moving so much in the UK and US, I didn’t really accumulate much clothes. My style while a Masters student in London was very different from what I wear now or as a PhD student. Because the days were so long and sociable I’d wear clothes that worked for classes as well as for bars. When I work in Bangladesh I wear salwar kamizes and end up donating them to poor people when I leave, but my silk and embroidered saris I keep. They are artisanal handicrafts. Now we have lived in Scandinavia for three years and I have finally invested in warm winter jackets, coats and shoes, and I hope that they will last me many years to come .
What is a sustainable closet for you?
It’s a personal choice for everyone. Because of my size – I’m petite - it’s hard to find clothes second hand, even in normal shops I don’t find much. My husband tried to find ethical brands, but they don’t have my size. In UK they’re (ethical fashion brands) quite big but I can’t wear them. What I do is to try to buy better material from natural fibre as an investment. Classic pieces for me is a sustainable wardrobe. My shoes I had for six years, my dress for five years. Sustainable clothes are clothes you can wear for a very long time. Because my closet is an investment and since we have different seasons, I don’t get tired of my clothes. Ideally I would love to see local tailors. You know in Bangladesh, you would go to a bazar, you would pick the material you want, you pick the design and they will make the clothes of your dreams that fits you perfectly. Now that is disappearing. Now with my size, I would love tailormade stuff. I would like to have local tailor that uses Swedish wool. But Right now there is no demand. The skill is dying. That would be very sustainable, if it’s made for you, you would love it even more. I have a few dresses made for me, my wedding dress is also made as a summer dress. These were made in Bristol. People spend a lot of money on brands in Sweden. What if you spend those money on a tailor and high-quality sustainable made fabrics?
What do you think about the fashion industry?
It goes back to local tailors, local production and textiles. The fast fashion industry is a production machine, one of the biggest polluters, the biggest waster.. they’re making clothes people only wear once! We need to see a greater movement towards producing clothes that are needed. I understand the need to use fashion to express, but we need a balance between a choice of variety and sustainability. The shift from local production to cheaper clothes accelerated in the 1990s as the new World Trade Organization rules made it easier for multinational corporations to outsource production to cheaper countries, to move capital and goods globally. Now it’s very easy for the global fashion industry. Everything is so much cheaper. The more locally things are made, the more we value them – I think. We need to value clothes more, not only see it as things we can throw away. H&M can sell cotton dresses from Bangladesh for 100 SEK, but they don’t pay living wages! Not only wages but insurance, pensions and environmental externalities, are things they’re not paying for. A lot can be done! A lot of things are only produced because they’re trendy.
What do you believe needs to change?
Everything I just said. We should value clothes more. Not waste them and throw them away. It’s not only the consumers but also the industry. They actually make clothes people don’t want and throw away. One year the Christmas sweater was trendy, consumers bought it for Christmas and then it was thrown away.
What can one do that seeks to create a more sustainable closet?
You have to think a second time before you buy anything new. Do I really need it? Is it comfortable? Is it something I will get tired of? Second hand isn’t that a big option for me yet, but for someone who has a more regular size I think that is definitely part of a sustainable closet. www.ethicalconsumer.co.ukis great: they’re reporting on different brands and how ethical their production is – from clothes to household appliances and everything in between. I consult that list when I buy something new, but generally end up with the brands that fit me and that I can wear it for a long time. Ideally, I want my clothes to be organically certified (GOTS), but that’s not always easy to find. I also avoid plastic and polyester materials, not sure about the process about lyocell.. if they’re too processed they won’t be biogradable so I am a bit sceptical to these ‘recycled plastics’ clothes that are trying to seem sustainable, they will still result in microplastics in the ocean no? I personally think it’s better to keep it natural!