Think about your own wardrobe:
What are your favorite clothes – and what makes them worth wearing over and over again?
Is it the fit, the comfortable materials, the quality of the stitching – or perhaps a personal story connected to that specific garment?
Krone was a garment made to last. Buying a Krone was an investment in a product intended for a long life. Hence the slogan: “Kronen på verket” (The crowning achievement).
In contrast, today's textile industry often swaps quality for quantity. Clothing has become cheaper, and new technology combined with shifting trends has turned the textile industry into "big business." Today, you aren't expected to buy clothes only once every ten years. On the contrary, the industry is designed for you to renew your wardrobe—often across eight different seasons a year.
According to the Norwegian NGO Future in Our Hands (Framtiden i våre hender), the average Norwegian buys 50 new garments every year.
This leads to a surplus of clothing that is neither used nor cared for because the quality is low, and it is cheaper to buy new items than to repair what we already own.
The “Fast Fashion culture” has led to a doubling of production volume since the year 2000, yet clothes are now worn, on average, only half as long as before.
Overproduction results in massive carbon emissions, and the textile industry is one of the world's largest consumers of water: producing a single cotton shirt can require between 2,500 and 3,000 liters of water.
Another major issue is plastic-based clothing. Fabrics such as polyester, acrylic, and nylon are made of plastic, which releases microplastics every time they are washed.
Textiles sent for "recycling" often end up in "textile deserts" in places like Chile and Ghana, where the clothes release microplastics into the environment and the ocean.
So – what actually happened to quality? Why are clothes no longer made to last?
The transition to fast fashion has changed both production and consumption, but the textile traditions of the past show us that there are alternative ways.
SB Swimwear is an example of this mindset. They see the value in materials that would otherwise be discarded, using 100% recycled surplus textiles in their production. In collaboration with the Textile Industry Museum, they have developed a small collection of wool swimwear, where each piece is made-to-measure. This both ensures a perfect fit and extends the lifespan of the garment. This is slow fashion in practice: quality, tailoring, and resource efficiency.
Perhaps some things were better before? People bought fewer items, took care of them, and repaired them when needed. Therefore, the best advice is very simple: Buy less – and take care of what you have.