Friday Crap
One CU Student’s Take on Sustainable Fashion
Parker Hanley, a junior, is a CU student from San Francisco who enjoys her time as an art student. What most people don’t know is that when she isn’t completing schoolwork, she pours hours into one-of-a-kind, eclectic fashion pieces and sells them through her sustainable fashion brand, Friday Crap. Hanley is an advocate for sustainable fashion that is wearable and expressive and Friday Crap exemplifies just that.
Hanley is among the growing number of people that are taking a stand against the fast fashion industry and the waste that comes along with it. The fast fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world falling right behind the oil industry. According to an academic journal done by SANVT.com, worldwide textile production doubled from 2000 to 2014, costing the health of textile workers and the environment. Fast fashion companies like SHEIN, Forever 21, and many others often use chemical fibers like polyester, which are made from crude oil and emit large amounts of CO2 during production. These pollutants are often then put into the ocean and are very harmful to our oceans, as well as our atmosphere.
“I’m really against fast fashion,” said Hanley. “It’s really easy for people to not understand the determinants of fast fashion especially when it’s so cheap and convenient.”
Hanley started Friday Crap in high school in 2016 as a creative outlet, but her interest in fashion began at a very young age.
“I’ve always loved art, but my first memory of drawing clothes is when I was nine and my grandma took me to GAP… I saw a dress I loved and my mom wouldn’t get it for me so I drew it to make it myself. Since then I’ve loved drawing clothes and making them,” Hanley said.
A self-taught seamstress who learned through watching YouTube videos and mimicking the designs of previously owned pieces, Hanley finds inspiration from anime, cartoons, friends and even random everyday objects like strawberries. Her customers claim that her pieces are unlike anything else they have due to Hanley’s choice of eccentric fabrics and unique designs and color combinations.
“She never compromises the quality of her projects for the sake of getting an order out faster. Everything I have from her I plan on keeping forever,” said fellow CU student Maren Curtis, one of Friday Crap’s customers.
Hanley said that through the experience of starting her own sustainable fashion brand she has noticed that time is money, and being a one-woman show is difficult. Her love for her job overshadows the idea of making more money elsewhere.
“For me, what I get the most out of is making and designing the photoshoots for the clothes, and the fact that I can make money from doing what I love is so awesome.” Hanley said.
Once Hanley designs the shoots, the videographer for the Friday Crap collection photoshoots, CU student Ken Cuba, puts them into motion.
“The atmosphere Parker brings is electric … getting the opportunity to shoot with her reminded me of what it means to have fun doing what you love and never losing sight of the reasons why you start an artistic expression,” he said about Hanley.
With the flexibility of online courses due to the pandemic, Hanley has been able to focus on building her brand. She utilizes reselling apps like Depop, eBay, and Poshmark to sell and recycle her clothes and encourages others to do the same.
Her brand is one of many trying to push forward an agenda of slow fashion and sustainability.
Boulder resident and Colorado State University student Alyson Maes has also found great success on Depop with over 600 sales in just two years. She said that utilizing Depop helps her and her customers be more conscious of their carbon footprint, as well as fueling her hobby for fashion.
“I use Depop not only to make some cash from the clothes I don’t wear anymore but also because the process of generating and shipping new clothes, especially for brands that profit from fast fashion, is extremely taxing on the environment,” Maes said.
People are utilizing apps like Depop or going thrift shopping to help reduce their carbon footprint as well.
Sheri Bradley is the manager of Goodwill located in Boulder and said they are seeing more people at their location lately.
“You know with the pandemic and everything I think more people are thrift store shopping than they used to because of the free time, and I have definitely seen a younger crowd too,” said Bradley
According to a poll done in 2020 by the finance company Piper Sandler, 46% of upper-income young adults have said they have purchased second-hand clothing, and 53% have resold their own clothes. This young crowd of new environmentally conscious people includes Hanley, Maes, and many others who are trying to make a change in their communities by getting creative with their shopping.
Hanley continues to grow her brand and inspire those around her. Just recently, she learned how to screenprint and has been updating her website daily with new graphics and drawings straight from her sketchbook.
Hanley hopes that others can see just how passionate she is about creating sustainable and eccentric clothing. She encourages students at CU Boulder to try something new and find alternatives to fast fashion. Her designs are receiving more and more attention from customers as an increased number of young adults start to turn away from fast fashion.
Shopping secondhand is something CU students can start anytime, whether it’s checking out the thrift stores near campus, reselling their clothes at places like Plato’s Closet or Apocalypse, starting a Depop account, or simply just trying to slow down their consumption of clothes.
“Everything is sustainable and one-of-a-kind. Everything I make I try to put a little piece of myself in it, but also make it something that isn’t something that couldn’t suit someone else,” Hanley said.
