STUDIO SLOWNESS / QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
In 1986, Carlo Petrini founded the Slow Food Movement in Italy, in defence of biodiversity and in opposition to the standardization of food production and taste. He wanted to protect cultural identities tied to food, and propagated for the need of consumer information. This inspired similar movements in other areas, from slow fashion to Slow Cities.
Slow living is about making conscious choices, supporting cultural diversity and local identity, but also about finding balance and having a holistic view of the world. Of course, quality often comes with a cost. Perhaps we will buy fewer things, but higher in value. Slowing down enables a richer interaction between those involved in the production cycle, as well as between maker and user. Slow is about moving from quantity to quality.
“Slow” and “fast” signify different approaches to production and consumption, in which we become aware of the impacts of our choices and way of living on workers, communities and ecosystems.
Slow and fast are not opposites. Slowness can exist also in what is seemingly fast-paced. Within the fast fashion system, a T-shirt can be produced in a matter of days. But, before this, the fibre will require a certain length of time to grow, regardless of a product’s speed to market (and for cotton, this length of time is approximately one full year). In this sense, fast fashion is not actually about speed but about selling larger quantities, which demonstrates how complex our way of engaging with and talking about time really is, and how slow and fast often are intertwined. However, fast usually implies the exploitation of natural resources, while slow living is about choosing, consuming and living better. It is not necessarily time-based but rather quality-based (which of course often requires a slowing down). “Slow” and “fast” signify different approaches to production and consumption, in which we become aware of the impacts of our choices and way of living on workers, communities and ecosystems. By choosing to slow down, we choose quality over quantity, promotion of the locally specific over the standardized, and to engage in authentic encounters and deeper cultural understanding instead of generic sightseeing.
