Australians putting brakes on fast fashion

SYDNEY - In a small shop along one of Sydney's busiest streets, Sarah Freeman is encouraging Australians to slow down and break their addiction to fast fashion.

Shocked by the speed at which Australians buy and throw away cheap garments, she is trying to harness an ancient concept - libraries - to persuade shoppers to rent instead of purchase clothes.

"Today's society just seem to wear clothes like condoms. They wear them once and they throw them away," the passionate vintage-garment lover said at her Clothes Library in the inner suburb of Potts Point.