Today is the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza catastrophe in Bangladesh, when 1,133 people, mostly women, died while making clothes for western fashion brands, many of whom didn’t even realise their clothes were being made in such unsafe, sub-human conditions. Despite all the hand wringing and revelations, we’re still a long way from making progress on this front, many brands still haven’t taken control of their supply chains and worker are still suffering terribly to make clothes we probably don’t really even need to buy.
So Fashion Revolution has set itself up to raise awareness on how little we all know about the origins of our clothes, how disconnected we all are to the hands that set the sleeves of our jackets and machine the hems of our dresses. Remember when we didn’t know or care about where our chickens came from? Or what went into our bread? Food has come a very long way in exposing the dastardly happenings of big brand business in the food chain, Fashion Revolution wants the same level of analysis in the clothes supply chain so you can make informed decisions about who you spend your money with.
So today it wants you to ask “who made my clothes?’ and to wear your clothes inside out, exposing the labels, to get a conversation started.
We’re big fans here of Dame Vivienne Westwood, who talks sense about buying clothes when she says ‘Buy less, choose well and make it last’. If a T shirt costs less than a prawn sandwich, then you can bet your last shell fish it isn’t the brand who is suffering to make it so cheap. We all have enough clothes, if we buy, lets make sure we all know what we’re buying, so today you need to ask yourself “Who made my clothes and am I ok with that?”.
There’s a load of great information on the website, telling you which brands and retailers are working hard to change and what you can do to try and find out more about where your clothes come from. There’s lots of fun to be had today too, from designer jumble sales to make do and mend sewing classes, check out the day here. Really it all starts with you just asking the question, first of yourself, then of others, “Who made your clothes?”
I’m from a traditional New England background, full of traditional Yankee stinginess and when I started learning more about the true cost of “fast fashion” and cheap clothing, it was a battle worth watching in my house as I tried to convince my mother or father that it was worth it to save up and purchase a piece that was built to last and not at anyone’s expense but my own cash contribution. They’re coming around haha. Whether we acknowledge it or not, clothing, like food, is an enormous part of our lives and a chunk of the sum total that we will spend in our lifetimes. It’s worth knowing where that’s going and why.
My divine ex boss Katharine Hamnett is also very much involved. #theoriginalfashionactivist http://www.katharinehamnett.com