If you don’t have a relative who can knit you a traditional Christmas jumper – and you’re not quite ready to invest in your own – Santa has come early: Lidl has launched a Christmas jumper rental service.
For all those who want to make their Christmas better with a sweater – even a bespoke jumper with the supermarket’s logo emblazoned across it – rental is just £2 a day from Thursday until 31 December, with all profits going to the NSPCC. The minimum rental period is three days.
Environmental critics have cautioned against buying new sweaters to take part in Christmas jumper day, an annual publicity push every December by the charity Save the Children.
The environmental charity Hubbub reported in 2019 that 12m jumpers were forecast to be bought that year, despite 65m already languishing in UK wardrobes. The novelty jumpers are, the charity said, one of the worst examples of fast fashion, now recognised as hugely damaging to the environment.
As well as triggering huge levels of waste, Hubbub’s research showed that most new sweaters contain plastic. Its analysis of 108 garments on sale from 11 high street and online retailers – including Primark, George at Asda and Topshop/Topman – found that 95% of the jumpers were made wholly or partly of plastic materials.
A spokesperson for Hubbub urged people to “swap, buy secondhand or rewear” rather than buy new.
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To facilitate the rental of Lidl’s limited-edition jumpers made from upcycled textiles, the supermarket has partnered with By Rotation, a peer-to-peer rental app akin to Airbnb but for designer fashion, which is championed by figures such as Dame Helen Mirren, Chrissy Rutherford and Abisola Omole.
“With Christmas being one of the top occasions of the year when the demand for purchasing single-wear outfits skyrockets, renting a festive jumper for your holiday season plans is a great way to leave a positive impact on the planet and also save money,” said Eshita Kabra, the founder and CEO of By Rotation.
Lydia Bolton, the slow fashion designer who created the three Lidl jumpers, said: “Designing and producing these jumpers inspired by Christmas icons from secondhand textiles has been super fun and creative, but knowing they are going to be rented and reworn also supports my mission of valuing and reusing textiles.”
Christmas jumpers – resplendent in their slew of tinsel, reindeer, sparkles and tassels – became popular in the UK during the 1980s when television presenters including Gyles Brandreth wore them on festive shows.
They fell out of popularity in the 1990s – largely regarded as “gag gits”. In Bridget Jones’s Diary, they epitomised embarrassment.
Slowly beginning to regain favour during the 2010s – Amazon reported a 600% increase in sales in 2011 – by 2012, the Telegraph described them as “this season’s must-have” and Topshop was selling 34 different designs.
