Behind Canberra’s first circular fashion festival, Clothing The Loop

Posted on 13 October, 2025

Canberra’s well-heeled fashion pack will be gathering for a day-to-night fashion festival this month, celebrating the power of fashion, art, design and activism in an unforgettable event.

Taking place on Saturday 18 October, Clothing The Loop will be shining a spotlight onto the works of local designers, artists, advocates, community group and government agencies who are working together to create a culture of sustainability in fashion – one where elegance doesn’t equal emissions and couture and climate change don’t have to be inextricably linked.

Because while fast fashion and its impact is prominent in conversations surrounding fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness, fashion lovers might be shocked to know that it’s not just about what you buy, but how often you buy that impacts the climate.

And when it comes to shopping, it turns out that Australians can’t resist some retail therapy.

According to a report from The Australia Institute, Australians buy more clothes per person than any other country, taking home an average of 56 new clothing items a year.

Surpassing the US as the world’s biggest consumer of textiles per capita, it’s a staggering contribution to the reported 10 per cent of global carbon emissions caused by the fashion industry.

It was this report that inspired local change makers Australian Dance Party Leader Alison Plevey and local designer Kelli Donovan to create Clothing The Loop – and it’s their motivation behind taking a head, hand and heart approach to teaching trendsetters what they can do to make a difference.

“Alison Plevey has always been a strong environmental activist through her work in her company, The Australian Dance Party…I have always wanted to do an event or something with her and join our forces in the arts together,” explains Kelli.

“After many conversations over the years, it just seemed the right time. Alison came up with the name of ‘Clothing the Loop’ and won a Zero Emission Grant from the ACT Government to help us kick start this event.”

Lending her knowledge of circular design, sustainability and the fashion industry to Clothing The Loop, Kelli has long been a pioneer of the Australian eco-fashion movement.

The designer behind Pure Pod – an organic sustainable brand that made classic lifestyle collections – and the founder of KELI Studio, a circular and arts brand, Kelli’s life mission is to educate people about both the issues and positive impacts of fashion and manufacturing on the environment, as well as the social impacts behind the glossy fashion images.

Making clothing from luxe vintage textiles, upcycled treasures, foraged finds, surplus and sustainable textiles, Kelli creates bespoke, one-off pieces.

Citing her ‘fashion gurus’ as Katherine Hamnett and Vivian Westwood – two UK designers who fused fashion and activism – Kelli will be one of the designers showcased in the festival.

One of Kelli’s garments in nature. Credit: Creswick Collective.

The jam-packed program of Clothing The Loop will feature stalls from local designers, educational talks, and end with a fashion parade showcasing KELI Studio, Corella and Crow, MAAK, Edition, Wasted, SZN, Harry’s Clarry and The Green Shed Upcycled.

According to Alison, she hopes that attendees leave the event feeling empowered and motivated to consciously make sustainable fashion choices.

“Its purpose is to connect people of different fields working in sustainable textiles to everyday consumers, [and get them] involved together in practical sessions, critical discourse, swapping clothes, and swapping ideas,” she says.

“Repair, Care and Reuse are huge themes for this event, as well as awareness of the incredible design work that is happening in our very own city in this space.”

Known for her unique sense of style, Alison has loved textiles and dressmaking since she was a young girl. Finding joy in exploring colours, styles and textures, she says that watching the fashion world change over the last 25 years – becoming more focused on quick trends and easy consumption – motivated her to get involved in action towards change.

Working with Kelli to create the event, Alison says they both believe that the combination of creative arts and fashion can capture people’s imagination and show them a new perspective.

“Showing a very important message through creative performance is a gentle way of changing mindsets and creating conversations. It is much more fun to watch a dance performance or a creative catwalk speaking about climate change and sustainability than reading a boring paper on it,” says Kelli.

“Climate change can seem huge, scary and daunting on your own, but breaking it down to something people can do in their own homes makes it more manageable and thought-provoking.”

Running from 10 am until 10.30 pm at The Vault on Dairy Road, Clothing The Loop will also include a giant clothes swap and hands-on workshops where attendees can learn skills to upcycle their wardrobe.

The event will also feature performances from The Australian Dance Party, who will be wearing costumes made from waste and created in response to garments created by Kelli.

Credit: O+J Wikner Photography.

Bookending the design parade and touching on themes linked to the event, Alison says that attendees will enjoy the intricacies of dance and design.

“The first duet you will see in the evening session is created by Pat Hayes Cavanagh and Jason Pearce with mentorship from ADP Directors. The costume and the choreography reflects the chain of mass production, resource consumption, pollution and these loops that we get stuck in,” she explains.

“The movements of the dancers are drawn from the weaving, stitching, stretch, and structure of fabric, all the work – which is mostly handmade – that we forget when we buy new so often.”

“The second duet which falls towards the end of the evening, is choreographed by myself in collaboration with ADP dancers Mia Rashid and Jahna Lugnan. In contrast to the first quite mechanical pieces, it brings forward reminders of nature, where all of our clothes come from! The white, fluff and frill textures of Kelli’s designs provided imaginative lens for us to explore images and movements of birds, clouds, jellyfish, with a regalness and whimsy.”

The duo hopes that eventually the fashion festival will become an annual (and perhaps international) tradition.

“I very much hope we can continue its legacy. Seamless, the National Textile Waste Scheme, is supporting and involved in our event, which gives vital credibility to what we are trying to do and may continue in the future,” says Alison.

For many fashionistas, it can feel hard to know where to start or if changing their consumption habits will even help. According to the British Fashion Council, there are enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations, while countries like Nepal are choked with fast fashion thanks to its position between manufacturing powerhouses China and India.

While a day-to-night fashion festival might not be the solution, it’s a step. And as fashion icon Marilyn Monroe said, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”. It’s just a bonus if they’re vintage, upcycled or have been rehomed.

But conquering the world through fashion requires understanding its impact first. As Alison and Kelli say, it all begins with education and closing the loop.

“Consumers need to be aware of the way clothing is made, the resources it takes to do so, and the freight it requires also to be sent to Australia from, for example, India or China,” says Alison. “Trend is about where your ethics lie, too.”

“I hope by my fashion journey and what I have learnt myself and in my fashion activism have helped change the way people perceive fashion, rethink about what they buy and how much they buy,” adds Kelli.

“If I can change the minds of a handful of people to think differently about their clothing purchases, then yes, I have made a difference.”

Feature image: Tracey Lee.