World’s largest Union Jack flag made from unwanted clothes
Marks & Spencer, local volunteers & Oxfam create world’s largest Union Jack flag from unwanted clothes. The giant piece of clothing art at West Ham Park in East London was completed within the time it took to win the 10km Open Water Swim. The stunt was produced as part of the retailer’s Shwopping campaign that asks customers to change their shopping behaviour and stop clothes ending up in landfill by adopting a ‘buy one, give one’ culture.
Using 2,100 unwanted items of clothing donated to the Shwopping initiative, Marks & Spencer (M&S) channeled the positive energy of the British public this summer to make the world’s largest Union Jack flag clothes mosaic, measuring 20 metres by ten metres.
The volunteers had just under two hours to complete their task before the winner of the 10km Open Water Swim at the Serpentine crossed the finish line, where the favourite for the event was British athlete Keri-Anne Payne, who finished fourth in the end.
Shwopping is M&S and Oxfam’s revolutionary sustainable fashion initiative asking consumers to adopt a ‘buy one, give one’ mentality when shopping and encourage greater sustainability on the high street. All items used in the creation of the flag will be reused, resold or recycled by Oxfam. The campaign aims to put an end to the one billion items currently ending up in landfill every year. All M&S clothing stores now accept used and unwanted items of clothing from any brand, all year round.
For further information on Shwopping from Marks & Spencer see here.
