Fashion Revolution Week

Fashion Revolution week is a very important date in the calendar for sustainable fashion. Before I started to concentrate on a more sustainable ethical lifestyle, I didn’t give much thought to where my clothing came from. Clothes just came from Topshop and H & M and that was fine. It was only when I decided to dig deeper that I discovered Fashion Revolution. Its one of the main reasons I started to make my own clothing.

What is Fashion Revolution?

Fashion Revolution is a group of people from all around the world striving to change the way clothing is produced, imported, marketed and sold. They believe that the industry needs to care more about the workers involved and the whole supply chain. It is a movement that runs all year but this week we can help celebrate, support and grow the movement. They have a charity The Fashion Revolution Foundation that helps educate people on their cause.

How did it start?

Fashion Revolution week started on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse on 24^th April 2013. The Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed and killed 1138 people and injured many, many more. This highlighted the terrible and totally preventable working conditions that garments workers, many of them young women are forced to work under. The problems with the buildings structure was well know and reported. But the demand from global brands to produce garments was too big and the conditions remained.

Brands involved

Many of the brands involved are part of the UK and US high street, a few are listed below. It has now been 7 years since this disaster, and which, if any, of these companies have made significant changes?

Benetton

Primark

Mango

Matalan

BonMarche

JC Penney

Many of these companies have yet to contribute you substantially to any compensation fund. Luckily other non-involved brands have stepped up to help.

Why do we need a Fashion Revolution?

We need to be thinking more about who made our clothes, where did they make them, how much did they get paid and what their lives are like. A lot goes into the garment making process and the journey they go through before they reach you. Cotton pickers, fabric producers and weavers, dyers, sewers, packers, testers and more. If brands aren’t more transparent with every aspect of the supply chain, how will we know what’s going on. I wrote a post recently about the Organic Basics 2019 impact report. They are particularly transparent with where the garments are made and what the workers are paid. This should be the benchmark for all brands to aim for.

What can you do?

Luckily for you there is plenty of ways to support the Fashion Rev movement in your everyday life, not just during Fashion Revolution Week. You can show support with your choices and your purchases, only buying from trasparent brands. If this doesnt fit into your budget buying second hand is a brilliant way to give life into clothing.

Your voice is very important. You can use your voice to reach out to brands and tell them that they must change. Fahion Revolution are asking you to email, tweet and take to Instagram to ask brands #whomademyclothes Head over to the Fashion Rev website to join the revolution, they have so many resources available to help you.

Feel free to Pin or share these quote posters I have made.

Let me know what you’ll be doing here in the comments or subscribe on the right to stay up to date

Ruby x