In the Netherlands, the Free Fashion Foundation is turning to weddings to promote second-hand fashion

“After about 30 minutes, I knew it was the one,” confides Lara Beters, gazing at her sleek second-hand wedding dress shortly after saying “I do” to her partner amid the bustle of Utrecht railway station in the Netherlands.

Two days earlier, the bride found her dress at a pop-up shop in the station run by the Dutch foundation “Free Fashion”, which, as part of its drive to promote circular fashion, has decided to take on the wedding industry.

“Getting the message across that you can make sustainable choices at your wedding is very important to me,” Beters, 42, tells AFP.

To draw attention to an issue close to their hearts, this sustainability communications professional and her husband, Mathijs Dordregter, 44, chose to marry at the Netherlands’ busiest railway station, with the event organised in part by Free Fashion.

“We know that, in emissions terms, making a wedding dress is roughly equivalent to a 250-kilometre car journey, and because they are made from all sorts of materials, they are particularly difficult to recycle,” Nina Reimert, a project manager at Free Fashion, tells AFP.

“So, at present, it’s a real nightmare, and with 17,000 weddings a year in the Netherlands, you can do the maths…” continues Reimert, 42.

To raise public awareness of this environmentally harmful overconsumption, Free Fashion has launched an online appeal to persuade brides-to-be to give a new lease of life to dresses that have already been worn.

“Celebrating love for the planet”

For Lot van Os, who co-founded Free Fashion, the wedding dress, usually worn only once, is a powerful symbol. “When we celebrate love, we should also celebrate love for the planet,” he tells AFP.

With around 800 volunteers, Free Fashion is approached by municipalities seeking to meet their circular-economy and waste-reduction targets. The foundation also works with companies, organising clothes swaps among employees.

“We also talk about this circular transition we have to go through, because it’s not a question of ‘if’ but rather of ‘when’ things will change,” continues the 33-year-old Dutchman.

Vegetarian meals and public transport

“There are already enough clothes in the world for the next six generations,” reads a sign beside a clothes rail in the station’s pop-up shop, where several dozen white dresses hang.

Well aware of this alarming reality, the couple did not stop at the dress alone. In addition to Dordregter, who bought a second-hand suit, all the couple’s guests arrived at the station wearing their best charity-shop finds.

“Of course, we’ll opt for a vegetarian meal at the restaurant and get there by bus or perhaps by bicycle. And everything I’ve bought for the wedding has already been used at previous weddings,” says Beters with a smile.

As for the fate of her dress after the big day: “It’s not going to end up in my wardrobe!” insists the bride, determined to keep this new tradition alive.