A Fashion Revolution

Photo: Fashion Revolution

This week is Fashion Revolution week. Fashion revolution is a movement that started almost exactly five years ago when the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1138 people and injuring a further 2500. Most of those affected were young women working in the garment factories housed in the building, making clothes for big global fashion brands, including Primark. As someone who has been a frequent shopper in Primark the idea that I could own clothing made by someone working in such terrible conditions is pretty awful. Particularly when, considering our culture of fast fashion, I probably thought of it as something expendable. To be fair to Primark, they have really upped their standards after this disaster and now, in my opinion, they're one of the more ethical high street stores (check out their ethics page here). But I digress, I'm not here to blog about Primark, I'm here to blog about the fashion revolution! Why do we need a fashion revolution? Because our addiction to fast fashion is hurting people, and it's hurting the planet.

The Rana Plaza tragedy was a wake up call to the fashion industry, and change is happening. I think one of the best ways to find out about a brand's ethics is to ask them directly, and publicly on social media. That way they know that these issues are important to their customers. In my experience the brands I've asked are all very quick to reassure me that they make sure they pay their factory workers a fair wage. However, that is all they tell me, I've never been shown any evidence to back this up. If you want to know exactly who made your clothes, from growing the raw materials, making the fibre for the fabric, dying the fabric, weaving the patterns all the way along the chain to stitching the fabric into actual clothes and shipping it into our stores, and what conditions they are working in, well that's pretty much impossible. Fashion Revolution are fighting this because they believe that transparency in the fashion industry is a necessary first step to wider systemic change. They've also created the Fashion Transparency Index, which is a great resource that scores top brands on the availability of information on their supply chain. I think it's so important that in our culture of fast fashion we take time to understand where our clothing comes from; when it's as simple as a click of a button to get the latest trends delivered to our door it's easy to forget the amount of people in the production line that got it there. But if someone is suffering so we can get a bargain, is it really worth it?

Photo: Unsplash

The human cost is not the only one we should consider, though, when shopping for the latest bargain. Our seemingly insatiable appetite for fast fashion is having a major impact on the environment too. The fashion industry creates 1.2bn tonnes of greenhouse emissions each year (more than international flights and shipping combined), accounting for 3% of global CO2 emissions. The chemicals used to grow, treat, dye and launder our clothes make their way into rivers and oceans - textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water annually, after agriculture, and with the environmental and human impact of non-organic cotton farming it's pretty safe to assume that the fashion industry has an impact on agricultural pollution too. What's more, when clothing made of polyester, one of the most popular textiles in the industry, is washed in standard washing machines it releases plastic micro fibres which, you guessed it, make their way into oceans. Half a million tonnes of microfibres are released into the ocean from laundered clothes each year, 16 times the amount of microbeads from the cosmetic industry. Fast fashion has also created a throw-away culture; the average times clothing is worn before it ceases to be used has decreased by 36% in the past 15 years, at the same time we're buying  400% more clothing than we did 20 years ago. Less than 1% of material used to make clothing is recycled into new clothing, and land-filling clothing and household textiles costs the UK economy around 82 million pounds a year - just think where else that money could be spent! It's time we all woke up and realised the true cost of the bargains we're purchasing.

Photo: Stella McCartney

But what can we do to change once we have woken up? Here are a few ideas from me;


1. Join the Fashion Revolution! Sign their manifesto, join the movement and take part in their campaign for transparency in the industry by asking your favourite brands #whomademyclothes. The more voices that talk about this and ask brands the important questions, the more they will understand that it's important to their customers and therefore their profits.

2. Quit fast fashion. This is a tough one if, like me, you love fashion. What's helped me is considering that even though going out shopping and finding a bargain may release some endorphins and make you happy in the short term, in the long term it doesn't fulfil you. Our sense of worth is often too tied up in looking a certain way, and retailers cash in on this by continually introducing the new thing, using advertising campaigns to subconsciously convince us that our lives will be better if we are looking good in the newest fashion, and that what we have in our already overflowing wardrobes isn't fashionable anymore. How many times have you looked in your wardrobe and thought, "I have nothing to wear", even though it's full of clothes? Fast fashion culture makes us constantly dissatisfied by what we have so that we will continue to spend money on more.

Photo: Unsplash

3. Buy second hand. Quitting fast fashion doesn't mean quitting fashion altogether, thank goodness! You can still buy new (to you) clothes at bargain prices without buying in to the fast fashion culture. Ebay has become my favourite place to shop of late, you can search for exactly what you want, find unique items or just see if anyone is selling that skirt you've seen on the high street second hand. Most of the time these items are like new anyway, and you're saving them from the landfill by recycling them.Charity shops are another great option, and allow you to donate to charity by getting yourself something new.

4. Buy quality. Some items have to be bought new, and that's OK. When we do buy new clothing, we should do so consciously, taking time to choose the most ethical and sustainable option we can, rather than buying something on impulse that we will end up hardly wearing. Also try not to be scared away from buying things that are more expensive if they are of high quality and will last longer. Looking for the cheapest option is a hard habit to break, but hopefully it will save you money in the long run when you don't have to constantly replace things that are worn out. I've heard it said that you cannot afford to buy cheap shoes, and I think there's some truth in that! Be aware though that a high price tag doesn't necessarily mean high quality, another reason to take your time before purchasing.

5. Make do and mend. Don't be so quick to throw things out if they are faulty. See if you can repair things yourself, or take them to your local dry cleaners to see if they can fix them. It's usually easier than you think. Or if there is something bugging you about a certain item that is stopping you from wearing it, is there a way you can make it better? For example I have a dress that I never wore because the buttons always gaped across the bust, this was simply fixed buy stitching in a couple of extra popper buttons. Fixing things you never wear can feel like getting something new!

6. Sell/donate/recycle. I've made a pretty penny selling old clothes on Ebay lately, and it's been surprisingly liberating to pass on clothes that I was hoarding in my wardrobe 'just in case' to someone who will actually wear them. Donating clothes to charity shops is always another good option, and it feels good to know that your unwanted stuff will raise money for deserving charities. But if you don't think anyone would want your old stuff, don't chuck it in the bin just yet! Textiles can be recycled, usually not at curbside, but larger recycling points often have textile bins, and a lot of the time charity shops will also take them, recycling fabric can sometimes earn them a bit of money too.

Photo: Unsplash

Lifestyle change can be hard, but as I've said before, small changes can make a big difference. When we spend money we are voting for the world we want to live in, so choosing not to spend our hard-earned cash in a profit-driven system of fast fashion that doesn't care who it treads on or the harm it causes, so long as it is making money, is powerful. To me, one of the points from the Fashion Revolution Manifesto, about the type of industry they want, encapsulates this:

"Fashion measures success by more than just sales and profits. Fashion places equal value on financial growth, human wellbeing and environmental sustainability"

Profits have become the marker for success in our society, but it doesn't have to be that way. We can vote with out money and our lifestyle for the values we think are important. It may be cliche to say be the change you want to see, but there are enough of us that care about the future of our world that, if we work together, can make real, impactful change.



References

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/environment-costs-fast-fashion-pollution-waste-sustainability-a8139386.html

https://www.fashionrevolution.org/about/why-do-we-need-a-fashion-revolution/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/28/stella-mccartney-calls-for-overhaul-of-incredibly-wasteful-fashion-industry