A clothes swapping centre has opened in Thailand to reduce waste produced by 'fast fashion'.

The pop-up shop Swoop Buddy launched in the capital city Bangkok, allowing customers to drop off their old clothes in exchange for store credits, which they can later spend on other second-hand garments.

Its founder, Kanin Songatigamas, said the platform was established to encourage people to 'buy less, use well, and make it last' to minimise the harmful impacts of fast fashion.

He said: 'Fast fashion and the fashion industry are large contributors to climate change as the industry releases a significant amount of greenhouse emissions.

'The employees manufacturing the fast fashion clothes are also being oppressed by powerful employers.'

Kanin hopes that the store will encourage sustainable environmentally-friendly shopping to help the environment and climate. It should also reduce pollution from clothes ending up in landfill sites, he said.

Fast fashion refers to the rapid cycle of designing, producing, distributing, and discarding cheap clothes - often for the sake of keeping up with trends.

The United Nations Environment Programme said that as of 2019, the fashion industry accounts for up to 10 percent of global carbon emissions and 20 percent of global waste water outflow.

Because of the breakneck pace at which the clothes are sold, fashion retailers frequently resort to overseas labour to keep costs low.

This has resulted in unfair and unethical practices that exploit workers - sometimes including children - mostly from underdeveloped countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.