This article was written for Fethiye Times by Sian Midgley.
As my friends already know, I’m trying to do my bit for the environment. One area I’ve focused on is the damage fast fashion is doing to our planet and, along with my fellow likeminded colleagues, we have been running regular Clothes Exchange events to encourage people to swap unwanted clothes rather than throw them away and replace them with new ones.
A similar, but more upmarket, idea has been put together by Çağrı Lewis who runs a 20/20 Pre-Loved Pop Up Store. I ‘popped up’ (see what I did there!) at one of her events at Billy’s Bar in Çalış recently and had a little chat with her about it.
How Did It All Begin?
Çağrı originates from Izmir, moving to Fethiye 9 years ago, via a stint in Thatcham in the UK. Many people will already be familiar with her previous permanent shop, 20/20, which she ran for 8 years in Central Fethiye. It’s here that the idea for selling pre-loved items began as she goes on to explain; “Two regular customers came into the shop one day and told me that one of their friends had sadly passed away. Her husband was trying to sell her clothes to carry on feeding the street cats that she had looked after, and grown to love, over the years before her passing. I agreed to buy some of the clothes and, well, the rest is history.”
And Now?
Despite closing the shop Çağrı still has a love of fashion so decided to start the 20/20 Pre-Loved Pop Up Shop which involves holding sporadic clothing sales at various venues in the local area. The idea is that people pass on good quality clothes they no longer want, tell Çağrı a price they would like to receive and, once she has sold the items with a small mark-up, she gives them their price. Obviously it’s not fool proof and not everything will sell so these items will be returned to the original owner although Çağrı obviously has an eye for fashion and will only take items she think others will buy.
What Does The Future Hold?
In the future Çağrı hopes to run Pop Up Shop events on a regular basis and is already getting enough clothes to rotate the selection so that customers can find something new and exciting every time they visit. Her big dream is to again have a permanent location to showcase her items. However, instead of being open every day like most shops, this shop would open on a more adhoc basis with each open day being more of an event rather than just an excuse for a browse. To contact Çağrı or keep up to date with when these events take place you can follow her 20/20 Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/2020FETHIYE/).
Paying The Bills…
Of course at present this isn’t a full time job and a woman has bills to pay and cocktails to buy so what does Çağrı do for a day job? Well, funnily enough, I know the answer to that – she’s recently started working for Yıldırım Sigorta in Fethiye. She was so impressed with them when they sorted out a claim for her that her original insurers refused to help with that, when they offered her a job she jumped at the chance. So, if you’ve bought soooo many clothes from her that you need to insure them, or the wardrobe(s) they are hanging in, you can get in touch with her on 0533 431 0056 or cagrilewis@yildirimsigorta.com.tr. Her English is absolutely perfect so you won’t find yourself insuring next door’s dog by accident.
I’m sure you’d like to join me in wishing Çağrı all the best in her new endeavour and let’s hope that this is the beginning of a new trend of thinking more about what you are wearing, spending your money wisely on quality items and saying bye bye to fast fashion.
The post Pre-Loved Fashion – saving the world one blouse at a time appeared first on Fethiye Times.