Shop vintage fashion for free at Rotterdam Central Station

On the Blijdorp side of Rotterdam Centraal Station, you can shop cool vintage and stylish basics for free from 4 to 18 July. At the FREE FASHION pop-up store at Proveniersplein 26, all clothing (women's and men's clothing, shoes and accessories) is free!

Visitors will receive three coupons on entry, good for three garments. Volunteers explain the impact of the textile industry and how recycling works. Stylists will help find outfits and there will be demos on clothing repair. You can also hand in clothes yourself. Travellers and Rotterdammers can thus experience how fun and easy circular shopping can be.

The grand opening of the shop will take place on Friday 4 July from 1pm to 2pm. From 14:00, the shop will be officially open. Joost van Maaren, director of Clean and Circular City Municipality of Rotterdam, will kick off the opening of the pop-up store, after which a green carpet will be rolled out for the Thisisfreefashionshow: a colourful fashion walk by fashion lovers from the city in their coolest pre-loved creations.

Joost van Maaren: "In Rotterdam, we like to literally give space to sustainable initiatives. This pop-up store shows that circular fashion is not only necessary, but also fun, stylish and accessible. In this way, we are jointly building a city in which reuse is the new norm and we work together on fewer and better materials that we use for longer and again. This initiative fits perfectly with that."

Recycling clothes the norm

The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters worldwide. In the Netherlands alone, some 300 million kilos of clothes are discarded every year. This makes textile waste an important issue in the transition to a circular economy. More and more laws and regulations are forcing producers to take action, but consumers can also make an immediate difference.

Free Fashion makes it fun and approachable to make that impact. Founder Dieuwertje Vorstenbosch says: "Making new clothes costs an enormous amount of energy and water. By buying less new and sharing what is already there, you make an immediate impact. We want to show that there ís already enough beauty - and we like to share and propagate that."

Published figures show that some 73% of textiles in Rotterdam end up in residual waste. And that figure has skyrocketed in a short time. The city has 237 textile containers where an average of 45,000 kilos of textiles and clothes arrive every week. Sorting companies can barely handle the flow: with the rise of fast fashion and the increase in low-quality clothing, the revenue model is under pressure. Consumers can contribute by buying clothes more consciously, wearing them longer and handing them in properly.

The FREE FASHION Movement in Rotterdam is made possible by partners Gemeente Rotterdam, NS, Rotterdam Central Station, Albeda College, De HER, Zadkine, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Byewaste.

Cover photo: Lot van Os and Dieuwertje Vorstenbosch by Malou Francken