Fighting textile waste while bringing people together is all in a day’s work for Claire Fong.
It all comes together at Fong’s Winter Solstice Clothing Swap, which is also a donation collection for Safe Space Winter Shelter.
The activist, teacher and jewelry designer has been organizing clothing swaps for more than 20 years.
“You're helping each other, and you're sharing resources, and you're building this form of I feel like it is resistance to the modern-day problems of isolation and this pressure to conform to certain standards."— Claire Fong, activist and teacher
The Chico event is in its third year, and it’s grown from an intimate gathering to a well-attended event where people share resources and promote sustainability.
“You're helping each other, and you're sharing resources, and you're building this form of I feel like it is resistance to the modern-day problems of isolation and this pressure to conform to certain standards,” Fong said.
The process is simple. Attendees are asked to bring their clean, usable, but unwanted clothing, lay it out on a blanket or sheet, and then peruse other attendees' offerings.
Guests are encouraged to take anything they want for themselves or others. Importantly, attendees must take any leftovers home.
“Take whatever you want, there is always an abundance, there's always more than enough, there's always things left over,” Fong said. “So I ask people, take stuff for your kids, take things for your neighbors, especially now at the holidays, take something that you want to gift to someone.”
From childhood costumes to fashion school
Fashion has been a part of Fong's life since her early childhood.
Fong recalled traveling with her grandmother, a performer and musician, and her grandmother’s band to various retirement homes when she was only 3 years old.
“I have pictures of me in this outfit, in a gold sparkly top hat and a tutu and tap shoes, and she and I would just dance for the audience,” Fong said.
With a colorful costume in tow, Fong became too familiar with her grandmother’s style, and, like Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” she was fond of red slippers.
“I specifically remember this pair of red satin high heels that she had that I was obsessed with as a kid,” Fong said.
Fong would eventually attend the California College of the Arts in the Bay Area. During that time, she learned about production and distribution processes in fashion, the origins of fibers, textile manufacturing facilities, and the social and environmental repercussions of the industry.
“That's really shaped a lot of my teaching style, and also just my personal ethics and morals around consumption, particularly textiles and clothing,” Fong said.
Her blend of art and activism also extends to her work as a well-known earring designer. Fong uses materials such as upcycled and recycled leather and suede from discarded clothing in her pieces.
“I started making jewelry because it was just more accessible for people to wear,” Fong said.
She has been teaching and creating jewelry for the past 15 years. She points out that it is an excellent way to foster community engagement.
“I just love that I can blend my artistic endeavors with my social activism as well,” Fong said.
Helping others while having fun
Fong’s community-focused initiatives are meant to tackle the fast fashion industry's environmental and social impacts — it's a major polluter of carbon emissions.
"The majority of things that get donated to thrift stores wind up in landfills," Fong explains. "For me, clothing swaps are a really great way to keep clothing and textiles within our community and to redistribute things in a more equitable way, and it's free, like, what's more equitable than free?”
Fong cares deeply about environmental and social equity, but she also knows that conversations about fashion waste and labor conditions can be overwhelming.
“It is a joyful gathering where people are coming together, and they're doing something good for the environment, and they're doing something that is promoting social justice, whether they know it or not.”— Claire Fong, activist and teacher
“Nobody wants to hear me talk about stuff like all your polyester clothes are going to go in the landfill, and they're never going to biodegrade, and did you know that children are producing your clothes in other countries?” Fong said. “Everybody knows everything is terrible at this point, but clothing swaps are pure joy to me, as a person who loves clothes.”
Her work in sustainable fashion is closely tied to her history of activism, dating back to her college days with the grassroots organization Food Not Bombs. She applied what she learned about waste in the food system to the fashion industry.
Beyond the clothing exchange, the event supports Safe Space,, a nonprofit that provides low-barrier emergency shelter and services for people experiencing homelessness.
The date of an upcoming swap on Dec. 21 coincides with the shelter's first day of winter operation through early March.
Representatives from Safe Space will beat the event to sign people up for volunteer shelter shifts and to collect much-needed donations.
“I cannot think of a more enjoyable activity than getting together with my friends, and at my swaps, I play music like I'll bring snacks like it's a party,” Fong said. “It is a joyful gathering where people are coming together, and they're doing something good for the environment, and they're doing something that is promoting social justice, whether they know it or not.”
The event is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, at the Chico Women’s Club.
