What’s the Bed Stuy Clothing Swap? And Details of Our Upcoming Clothing Swap With Them!
As winter rears its ugly head, many of us will find ourselves in need of a seasonal wardrobe refresh, some warm clothing, or gifts for upcoming holidays. We get it! For our second irl event, Sustainable Baddie will be collaborating with Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap (BSCS) to host a clothing swap! The swap is a great opportunity to come out and meet both the Sustainable Baddie and Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap teams, as well as other like minded susty baddies!
Between 2 and 6 PM on Sunday December 4th, 2022 Sustainable Baddie and Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap will be at All Night Skate in Brooklyn. Come by to make some new friends, bond over our love for secondhand, and pick up a new ’fit while you’re at it!
If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of a clothing swap, it is a type of swapmeet where people gather to exchange valued but no-longer-worn clothing for clothing they will actually use. We’re honored to work with Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap for this event, and sat down with founder Akiera Charles and head of content management and creation Lisa Guraya to learn more about Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap’s mission.
Founded in 2018 by Bed-Stuy native Akiera Charles, Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap is a community-based movement that was founded with the intention of creating a space for BIPOC people within the world of sustainable fashion, and for the community and residents of Bed-Stuy to share resources in the form of clothing and information. At the time of its inception, Charles was just starting grad school, and like many other students, she was sans dinero* and bummed to know she’d be starting the new school year without a cute new ’fit. Inspired by black feminist marxist Claudia Jones, the need for community connection, and the hope for a new outfit, she decided to test out a clothes swap.
*money
On top of the pressure to have a sustainably-made mind-bending outfit and to adhere to trends, fashion lovers are expected to never repeat an outfit. The sustainable fashion space can be daunting.
“I think fashion in general makes people anxious for a lot of reasons because of connections to judgment, connections to class, connections to staying on trend,” says Guraya. “But once you kind of reframe your mentality to see fashion as a form of play, then you get to have much more fun and you get to be more versatile…” says Guraya.
As lovers of imperfection and the occasional “bad” outfit, we love that Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap is reviving the sustainable fashion movement as one that inspires reinvention and versatility.
A previously held clothing swap by Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap
Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap started off in front of Charles’ Bed-Stuy home, “It was really heartwarming to see people show up for something like that. Eventually, I started to host more and more and it grew from it just living in front of my house and, eventually, I started to see this [as] more than me just looking cute and being broke.”
“This is a whole movement that's connected in terms of thinking about colonialism and other people and other identities and their relationship to clothing. And also, the biggest caveat around it was just capitalism…” Charles says. “Knowing how there's this need around hyperconsumerism and also knowing how, within our culture, the idea of letting go is really difficult for a lot of BIPOC folks. It's all of those things I was thinking about once the clothes swap grew and once I became a bit more educated around sustainable fashion and the layers of colonialism embedded inside of it.”
In 2020, after eight successful clothing swaps and the onset of a global pandemic, Charles took a wellness pause on the event. It was difficult to take a break from the Clothing Swap in a time when white-guilt fueled a desperation for political education and when local movements and sustainable BIPOC-led platforms gained exponential followings.
“For me to take a pause on the clothes swap, I felt almost defeated…” says Charles. “I want this movement and this community to get that type of growth in this moment, but I am not doing well mentally and I need a pause.”
Divine timing and the unique ethos of Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap ensured that their moment would come.
After a much-needed period of rest, Charles decided to start BSCS back up earlier in 2022. “I put the call out and the blessings were divine.” says Charles. “What came through was magical; amazing folks like Lisa, and other people who are part of our team, who really came together with me to reimagine the clothes swap in a way where we all saw our own stake in reinventing and adding layers to the work we’re doing. Collectively merging it together and seeing the beauty of what the clothes swap can potentially grow into.”
“It’s beautiful to have a BIPOC-led group where there is space and opportunity for everyone to step up and run the show, because normally in a lot of spaces, BIPOC folks are either overshadowed, their work is co-opted, erased, or there just isn’t that space to allow people to uniquely show up in their strengths,” says Charles. “I think that's something that's beautiful where we acknowledge and affirm everyone for their strengths…”
If you’re planning on participating in the upcoming clothes swap, there are no rules per se – however, the clothes swap is a space for intentional action. It may help to think about your intentions in participating, to understand how to respect the space, and to review Bed-Stuy Clothes Swaps’ Community Agreements.
A previously held clothing swap by Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap
“We don’t see the clothing swap as a dumping site. There's a layer of intentionality that comes in how people engage and let go of their clothing that we want to really set the tone in our space, because often we’ve noticed that in other clothing swap spaces, people literally come just to dump and that in itself is continuing that same colonialist type of perspective…” says Charles.
“They dump clothes in countries that they don’t want anything to do with and people move away from it as though ‘oh yeah, it’s not my problem anymore.’ The intentionality is that layer of people seeing the stories and all the layers of their identity in that [piece of] clothing and seeing how the idea of exchanging it with someone else can be rewarding and can be this fun engaging practice that isn’t layered in just letting go and not really having any type of stake in that item or connection with that item.”
Guraya reminds us all to be respectful of cultural garments, “Clothing is so tied to culture. If you see earrings that are in the shape of Africa and you’re a white person or non-black person, maybe don’t get that. Knowing the intentions of the space and the ways that culture and clothing are associated and being respectful of that.”
Our clothes are tools of unwritten storytelling and identity affirmation. Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap encourages people at the swap to craft stories that are connected with the items they chose to attain. Interacting with the history of a piece and playing a role in crafting its future is a new way of engaging with an item of clothing that goes beyond its monetary value.
Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap hosting an up-cycling workshop to repurpose old garments
Clothing swaps aren’t just about acquiring new clothing, they are an opportunity to reflect on what you already own. “Have fun with what you already have and find amazing ways to put your clothes in rotation. How versatile are you? Look at things that are already in your closet and find new and fun ways to use them… says Charles. “Your closet is a whole story in itself. You can find amazing ways to switch it up and really reinvent the wheel.” You are more than welcome to attend the swap even if you are not participating in the act of exchanging clothes.
Sustainable fashion is so much more than purchasing ethically-made items or only thrifting your clothing. Sustainable fashion is a journey to understanding our relationship with clothing and how we can challenge ourselves to create without adding waste to our planet.
“Developing a sense of personal style is really important, but also kind of connecting to your ancestors' practices of sustainability is also really important…” says Guraya. “I’m South Asian, and so a lot of sustainable South Asian practices are converting sari fabric into something else, and so kind of using that guidance to guide your own closet and how you approach sustainable fashion and how you buy new clothes, is this something that can be transformed as well?”
When Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap first started, it was centered around the idea of the swap itself, but with time, it is expanding and growing into something far beyond what they could have originally imagined. BSCS is working to activate programming, like upcycling workshops, and
“amplify stories in that space, in terms of letting go, cultural politics, and the socio-politics that exist around clothing and capitalism and hyperconsumerism,” says Charles.
A previously held clothing swap by Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap
We are so excited for the Swap and to meet our beautiful community of sustainable baddies. This may only be our second in-person event, but we already feel the power that these events create in terms of our community’s strength and growth. “It has been so fun meeting other people of color in these different spaces,” says our founder and CEO Jazmine Rogers. “I’m really excited about partnering with local orgs and being able to meet the community because I think for us, I want us to elevate the message of different people doing really cool susty things, and I’m excited to partner and elevate them and what they’re doing. Also meeting new people who have similar values and being able to have them in a nice fun sphere.”
What do you think about the idea of a clothes swap? Will you organize one in your hometown?