The green movement in the costume department
A number of costume designers and costumiers are leading the way with trying to reduce waste in the film & TV industry.
There are many reasons why the process of costume production isn’t very environmentally sustainable, but there are ways it is becoming more so, and CAMA is trying to support this change.
On contemporary productions, costumes are normally bought rather than made, depending on the character and the production budget, this often means buying from high street shops and fast fashion brands. These brands use low-paid labour, damaging chemicals in their dying processes, and synthetic fibres. Damaging chemicals often leak into local water supplies and synthetic fibres release microplastics into the water every time a garment is washed. The garment industry is believed to be the second most polluting industry in the world, and a high number of costumes are sourced from the guiltiest industry players.
Even if costumes are made by the costuming department, materials could be sourced from suppliers with similar problems in their supply chain. There are also likely to be other problems, like waste in the form of spare costumes that are never used, or fabric offcuts.
Another factor that influences the unsustainability of costuming is how they are disposed of. On big budget productions, costumes are often stored, displayed or sold as a collectable item. However, with most other productions there are limited ways to get rid of costumes. Often costume designers or productions are forced to keep and store their own costumes. The costumes then aren’t reused by other productions, resulting in more being made in the future, creating more waste.
Here at CAMA we offer a more sustainable solution. We organise the collection and distribution of costumes to make sure they are reused by another production and avoid dusty storage rooms or worse – landfill. One of the best ways to make sure this happens is to donate the items directly to another production, or to a costume rental house.
One of our most recent recipients of costumes is Camden Costumes. Camden Costumes is comprised of a team of talented makers who create contemporary, fantasy or historical costumes for film and TV. They also have a growing collection of items that are for rental. CAMA have been able to donate costumes that are no longer wanted by productions, to Camden Costumes, so that they can be reused and repurposed in the industry.
Mariane Roesdahl, Director at Camden Costumes Ltd:
“Having recently come into contact with CAMA as a part of their recycling scheme we are thrilled to be able to help reduce landfill and waste as this is a big part of our business ethos. Film and TV can be a very wasteful industry and we think it is important to take steps to make a change and we are always looking for ways in which to do so.
We have been very well treated and always find that the staff at CAMA are efficient, professional and friendly.
Darren [Jones] gets in touch if he comes across anything he thinks we might be interested in, and is quick to arrange for things to be moved and the guys who deliver in the truck are really helpful and nice. Honestly, I have nothing bad to say, we even got a personal visit!
Please keep up the good work!”
If you would like to find out more about how our sustainable solutions could help with your recycling and redistribution needs, please contact us.
