The Festival of Sustainable Fashion – Sunday 24 Nov 2019

Panelist Aja Barber with the Complimentary Kindness team Sharon Wilson and James Clarke.

According to the waste Charity, Wrap, more than 300,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year, with 5 per cent of the UK's total annual carbon and water footprint coming from clothing consumption. Fashion itself generates 4% of the world's waste each year equating to 92 million tons. The figures are alarming and the panelists at The Big Swish Festival of Sustainable Fashion event at the O2 Arena on Sunday 24th November shared with the audience ways in which we could take responsibility for our own carbon footprint and make a difference to reduce this.

Swapping our unwanted clothes was one option and Betsy’s Clothes Swap Shop was a huge success and attracted a constant stream of customers. There were also inspiring workshops, spoken word artists, sustainable fashion shows and an array of vegan food and sustainable products on sale.

The Complimentary Kindness Team was in full swing - capturing the compliments of the attendees and guest speakers who wanted to express kind words of appreciation and gratitude to people in their lives. The compliments were flowing and numerous people were inspired to post or distribute compliment cards to friends, work colleagues and family members who were not present but could also enjoy the experience. Founder of Complimentary Kindness, Sharon Wilson, also moderated a Panel Session titled Beauty Has No Size explored how size relates to sustainability and how inclusivity and diversity are needed in order to create a more sustainable future for fashion.

We would like to compliment Betsy’s Clothes Swap Shop for organizing an amazing event and to thank all the participants and attendees for their contribution to sustainability.

Kindness with Words @ at the Big Swish Event, O2 Academy - 24th Nov!

Nowadays the most popular way for people to communicate is on social media via their mobile phones. But the downside of this solitary method is that it can cause us to compare ourselves to others and leave us feeling insecure about our size, the way we look and even exposed to cyber-bullying.  So Complimentary Kindness has created a platform where people can express themselves in person with words that have a positive effect on the well-being of others, in the form of a compliment.  Research suggests acts of giving and kindness are associated with positive mental wellbeing so come along and join us at 11.00am-12.30pm on 24th November at the Big Swish Event at the O2 Academy in Islington. Give someone a compliment and make their day! #ComplimentaryKindness

Also join us for a Panel session at 14:00pm!

We will also be moderating the Panel 2 session Beauty Has No Size at 14:00pm – 14:45pm. This discussion aims to explore how size relates to sustainability and how inclusivity and diversity are needed in order to create a more sustainable future for fashion. The panellists are as follows:

Daisy Shubert - a qualified personal stylist and professional speaker with a passion for sustainable fashion. She loves extending the lifetime of a garment, wearing pre-loved instead of new and creating a community around saving clothes from landfill at her bi-annual WALK IN WARDROBE™ event.

Aja Barber - writer, stylist and fashion consultant based in London. Aja's work centres around fashion and intersectional feminism and how the many elements of power often intersect within the fashion and beauty industry. Aja can be found daily, microblogging at Instagram @ajabarber

Jade Bruce-Linton - a multi-disciplinary fashion innovator. She currently works as part of the creative team at Katharine Hamnett London whilst studying Fashion Design at UAL and breaking modelling norms in campaigns for Nick Knight, Harley Weir and Carlijn Jacobs featuring in Vogue Italia, I.D, Dazed and Marie Claire.

Thought Fest 5th Oct - 6th Oct!

We are honoured to have been invited to the Thought Fest!

It is a festival of innovation, sustainability and mindfulness. With live expperiments from The Institute of Physics, a well being performance from The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, live music and literacy with Poet in the City, this is a day out that can be enjoyed by all minds that are curious about building a better future! And what better way to spend the weekend than with Complimentary Kindness.

Location: Regent’s place Plaza and Thought Fest

Studio: Triton Street.

Date: 5th October - 6th October

Time: 11:00- 19:00

I was privileged to witness an..

...an act of kindness recently that I wanted to share with you.  In my local high street a mother and daughter were chatting excitedly en route to their destination.  The daughter was around 8 years old and was proudly carrying a jar of coins which she had probably saved. I can only assume that they were on their way to the bank to convert these coins into a note or two dependent on how much was in there.

As I walked behind them I noticed they stopped along the roadside where a homeless young lady was sitting.  The girl’s mother was explaining to the child that some people were not as fortunate as them and didn’t live in safe houses so were staying on the streets.  The girl thought for a moment and then gave the jar to her Mum to hand to the homeless young lady. It really moved me to see such generosity from someone so young wanting to help another person in need.  Her Mum was extremely proud of her and although she would have to start saving all over again her act of human kindness was priceless.

Please share any acts of kindness on our comments page so that we can all be inspired to make a difference.