A Pop-Up Clothes Swap Is Coming To Montreal & You Can Trade In Your Old Fit For A Whole New One

Spring is slowly creeping around the corner, which means soon it'll be time to swap your winter wardrobe for something a little lighter. If you find yourself drowning in cold-weather clothes or outgrowing your old styles, this three-day pop-up clothes swap and thrift could be your ticket to a new you.

The event, called Swish, is taking place in Les Cours Mont-Royal next to Desigual Montreal during the weekend of February 17, and you can donate your clothes ahead of time to get credits that you can spend at the pop-up.

"Our goal is to provide the space to encourage everyone to come shop second-hand, promote circular fashion and meet so many new people at the same time," the organizer, Emily Dean, part of Soltron Group, wrote. "Every item that does not get sold will be donated to Quebec women's shelters at the end of the three-day event."

For each donated item, Montrealers can expect to receive a 30-40% credit towards the swap. Inventory will be collected through February 15, so don't walk, run to Les Cours Mont-Royal to drop off your pre-worn fashions.

Swish's founders claim that "about 700,000 tons of unsold second-hand clothing gets shipped overseas annually, and ends up in landfills," asserting that "circular fashion" is a critical alternative. The term, as defined by the scholar who coined it, simply means prioritizing the long-term use and re-use of pieces of clothing and accessories.

The goal of circular fashion is to keep items of clothing in use "effectively in society for as long as possible in their most valuable form, and hereafter return safely to the biosphere when no longer of human use," according to Green Strategy.