Free adult clothing swap coming to Sharpsburg
Looking to clean out your closet and snag a free outfit?
Fox Chapel Area High School senior Diya Reddy has organized a public clothing swap scheduled for Sept. 18 in Sharpsburg.
Ketchup City Creative owner Nanci Goldberg partnered with Reddy to host the free event scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 612 Main St.
KCC exists to make art accessible to the community and for artists to showcase their art in a variety of ways.
“Diya is passionate about sustainability. She is a great person, and we hope to do more of these to promote her efforts,” Goldberg said.
For Goldberg, this type of outreach is just what she hoped to offer when she opened KCC.
“I’m excited because the mission of KCC has always been to connect with the community,” Goldberg said.
Reddy, 16, of Fox Chapel decided to host the charitable clothing swap because she wants to promote the idea of sustainable fashion.
“The goal is to reshape the mindset around buying secondhand,” Reddy said. “Swapping — not shopping — helps to leave a better impact on the environment.”
Reddy said the idea stemmed from fashion trends she noticed among some of her high school friends.
“My friends would buy clothing that seemed like a good bargain, but in actuality, the clothing hurt our environment, contributed to child labor and was not sustainable. I love fashion but knew there had to be a better way to get new clothing, while not harming our planet.”
Swap participants are asked to bring about 10 articles of clothing in good condition, in any adult size, that may be shared with the group.
When everyone arrives, the swap begins, Reddy said.
“Clothing swaps promote a circular fashion model where people trade items with one another, rather than support fast fashion,” Reddy said.
Fast fashion is the term given to buying things quickly and cheaply to be in fashion and then discarding them and having them end up in landfills.
The swap is open to all genders.
Reddy created her own clothing swap organization called Trading Threads.
“The end goal is to grow the business so that others can start their own swaps within their community,” Reddy said.
“I like to see students making positive changes, and she’s thinking about the community,” Goldberg said.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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