Groningen's New Fashion Society Promotes Sustainability Through Upcycling

Fashion Show 2023. New Fashion Society

Students in Groningen are coming up with innovative ideas to tackle the global challenge of fashion sustainability. One such example is the New Fashion Society’s upcycling event, Fashion Reborn, taking place at Forum Groningen on October 9.

Founded in 2012 at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the New Fashion Society (NFS) is now known as “the key to the fashion industry” for students in Rotterdam. In 2023, NFS branched out across the Netherlands, reaching Amsterdam, Maastricht and Groningen, and it is now counting up to 120 active members.

“It is important to talk about sustainability, but even more to take action,” says Panna Kovács, 19, President of NFS’ Groningen branch.  “People tend to lose motivation in front of the negative impact of fast fashion,” she says. “Our initiatives aim to give people hope by showing them that, as individuals, they still have some control and can contribute to make fashion more sustainable.”

According to Kovács, “the new generations in fashion want to focus on sustainability and we will try to incorporate sustainability in our future fashion shows and events,” she says.  Likewise, Julia St. Germain, 20, Head of NFS Groningen’s social events, agrees, saying that “Fashion Reborn represents a starting point.”

Fashion Reborn

St. Germain says that the purpose of the workshop Fashion Reborn is to provide people with basic sewing skills to upcycle their clothes on their own. Yet, what does “upcycling” mean? “For me, upcycling means repurposing something, giving it new life,” she says. “This means seeing its potential to become something different rather than trying to repair it and hold it back in its original version.” 

Julia and Panna. Lisa Pace

She says that she sees the workshop as a chance to empower people and push them to be creative. “Everyone can do it, but it is hard to feel confident when you don’t know where to start,” she says. 

Referring to Fashion Reborn, Kovács, says that the event aims to show how accessible upcycling is and talk about its impact. “Rather than giving a hungry person a fish, give them a fishing rod” is her motto, as she says that upcycling represents an efficient tool for people to lengthen their clothes’ life span. “People often think that the problem in fast fashion is buying too many clothes, but it is rather throwing them away too fast,” Kovács says.

The main goal of the association is to create a community among the members in order to share the passion for fashion through social events, while creating long-term partnerships in order to find opportunities in the fashion industry for its members. “To me, NFS means sharing love for fashion and bringing people who are driven by the same goal together through that love,” says St. Germain. “It allows people to express themselves through fashion and create a community.”