I’ve just arrived in Denmark, home of where the #fashionrevolution started. On 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed. 1,138 people died and another 2,500 were injured, making it the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. That’s when Fashion Revolution started.
Since its inception, people from all over the world have used their voice and their power to tell brands that things must change. And it’s working. The industry is starting to change. More brands are being open about where their clothes are made. More manufacturers are making their factories safer. More producers are being seen and heard.
But the story is far from over. We are only just getting started. We can’t stop until every garment worker who makes the clothes we love is seen, heard, paid properly and working in safe conditions. Your voice does make a difference. We need to make this Fashion Revolution Week bigger and bolder than ever before. Ask brands #whomademyclothes?
What’s impressed me so much about Scandinavia so far is their commitment to this, from everything such as the use of renewable energy through wind and solar farming, through to their brands such as @hm and their Conscious Collection which uses renewable old materials to build new clothes, such as this dress I’m wearing.
Fashion measures success by more than just sales and profits. Fashion places equal value on financial growth, human wellbeing and environmental sustainability. Fashion lives to express, delight, reflect, protest, comfort, commiserate and share. Fashion never subjugates, denigrates, degrades, marginalises or compromises. Fashion celebrates life. As a lover of fashion, I urge you all to be part of this loving commitment and consider where your clothes come from.
