How Leeds clothes swap Good on You was set up to tackle loneliness and fast fashion and support women's charities

And so it was that she came to set up a music group in the city, a move that would lead her to cultivate a community in which she found support and companionship during her time abroad.

Two years later, Bonnie again set about preventing loneliness – both in her life and for those around her. Only this time, not through music. Rather, her instrument of choice is made out of fabric.

This loneliness was especially prevalent in young people.

The coronavirus pandemic, successive lockdowns, and a higher proportion of single people in their twenties has contributed to the problem.

When Bonnie moved to Leeds in 2020, with the pandemic at its peak, she was immediately keen to make friends.

“I had some friends who I knew individually,” she says. “But none of them knew one another, and I didn’t really have a group of mates who I could do life together with.

“We’re not in education anymore, we weren’t going to the pub, and so I wanted to find a way to bring people together and do things that we could enjoy together, that were free and inclusive.”

Eager to recreate the harmonious community she tended to in Melbourne, Bonnie set about forming an idea she had around fast fashion – a clothes swap, for women, in her own kitchen.

She started to plan how this might look; a group of women creating a safe and inclusive space to bring unwanted, unused and often never worn clothes and swap them, coming away with a whole new wardrobe, and, more importantly, making friends in the process.

The first event took place in her kitchen in August last year. Around 15 women aged between 18 and 30, some of whom she knew and others she didn’t, gathered in her house.

There was tea and coffee, people brought biscuits, snacks and wine, and, of course, clothes.

One friend was a model on Instagram and had just been given a heap of clothes - she brought with her an entire suitcase worth.

And Bonnie, as a singer and performer, had lots of stage outfits to contribute.

“Everyone was so excited to get hold of this stuff,” she laughs.

“It was basically just bonding over clothes and making friends while doing so.”

From there, the event grew. Bonnie hosted a second swap in her kitchen a month later, and by 2022, Good on You, as it has since become known because of the phrase “that looks good on you”, was born, organising regular clothes swaps at a multi-functional events space, Sheaf Street near Leeds Dock.

The first official event was for International Women’s Week in March, and Bonnie says she was helped hugely by those who were heavily involved with the initial clothes swaps.

By lending their skills, including logistics, operations, graphic design and marketing, they helped professionalise the event and expanded it to people across Leeds.

Tickets were sold for the event, drinks were served by the cafe, and all proceeds went to various charities supporting women’s rights.

People were encouraged to bring their own clothes to swap, though they did not have to and Bonnie says she was eager to help those struggling financially, including giving clean clothes to homeless and other vulnerable people.

“We ended up with so much stock, it was almost like a shop. It was crazy,” Bonnie says.

The aim was to combat loneliness and challenge the notion of fast fashion.

The latter, she says, is a major issue as the climate crisis worsens, especially for women.

“You have no idea how many clothes women buy online and never wear,” she explains.

“They’ll say ‘I’m going to send it back’, but I’d say half of the clothes we had at the swap had never been worn.”

A survey back in 2015 by Barnardo’s Retail found around 33 per cent of the nearly 2,000 women asked considered clothes ‘old’ after wearing them fewer than three times.

A study published in the Nature Reviews Earth and Environment journal in 2020 said the fashion industry creates 92 million tonnes of waste per year, and reports indicate it is responsible for eight to ten per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

As the world tackles the climate crisis and targets lower carbon emissions amid a drive towards net zero, the fast fashion industry has some difficult truths to face and major problems to solve.

This has led to a rise in second-hand retailers, clothes swaps such as Bonnie’s, and people shopping more consciously.

Its next event is in September, celebrating Black History Month. It will support Rotherham-based charity Apna Haq, which helps women from black and ethnic minority communities escape domestic violence.

Past events have supported Women’s Aid and SARSVL, a crisis centre for women and girls in Leeds affected by rape and sexual abuse, and Bonnie says supporting women’s charities is a major benefit.

“I have always been passionate about supporting women who are victims of domestic abuse and violence,” Bonnie says. “It’s important we support local charities and support people who identify as women.”

Bonnie ends our chat by talking about a recent holiday in Copenhagen with four other women who have attended the clothes swaps.

It would not have happened had it not been for the friendships they created and developed through Good on You.

The camaraderie is clear to see. It seems this is just the start of a burgeoning project in the heart of Leeds – a three-pronged attack against loneliness, fast fashion and in support of local women’s charities.