Credit: Caritas Luxembourg
Monday marked the inauguration of "Lët’z Refashion", the new pop-up store of Caritas Luxembourg dedicated to ethical, sustainable and local fashion; the store is located on Place Royal Hamilius in Luxembourg-Ville.
The inauguration took place in the presence of Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Marie-Josée Jacobs, President of Caritas Luxembourg.
Lët’z Refashion is one of the key elements of the "Rethink Your Clothes" campaign financed by the Luxembourg Development Cooperation. Launched in 2018, this campaign aims to encourage young people in Luxembourg to make more reasonable and sustainable fashion choices. In the guise of a concept store, Lët'z Refashion aims to raise awareness about the social and environmental problems of the textile industry, promote slow fashion actors and introduce citizens to creative sewing, all in one place.
After months of searching, it was finally the promoters of the Royal-Hamilius project who agreed to host this atypical project, which interested them for its social and local aspect. The space has been fitted out inexpensively through recycling and in a collaborative manner. The store's furniture and decor were made on a voluntary basis by the National Youth Service (Service National de la Jeunesse - SNJ) and the Créaction workshop in Walferdange, with the help of an architect. The material used to fit out the centre was either donated, notably by Cactus, or collected through donations.
In order to promote ethical and sustainable fashion, Lët'z Refashion offers items designed and made from recycled clothing or fabrics. Several local associations who are active in the field of textile upcycling are involved in this initiative, including BIRK in Mondorf-les-Bains, Sustained and BENU in Esch-sur-Alzette. Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg, a partner of the Rethink Your Clothes campaign, is also present with its new collection “FairfashionLab”. Lët'z Refashion is also calling on young private designers from Luxembourg or the Greater Region to showcase their products for free.
In addition, Lët’z Refashion will organize upcycling sewing workshops, one of the objectives of which is to learn how to make clothes last by repairing or transforming them. Details of future workshops are available on social media (@letzrefashion) and on the website www.rethink.lu/letzrefashion.
"It is a great awareness-raising tool as it allows our messages to be conveyed to a large audience and in a more user-friendly way than a conference", explained Caritas Luxembourg President Marie-Josée Jacobs. "We hope it can find a definitive address in town to continue fulfilling its mission".
