Fashion Revolution Week
Image: All images courtesy of Fashion Revolution
At Selvedge we are keenly aware that textiles are at the forefront of the climate crisis and their production is tightly bound up with the inequalities that plague our society. So, as it is Fashion Revolution Week, we are spotlighting some of the ways you can get involved with the campaign this year.
Fashion Revolution is the world’s largest fashion activism movement which campaigns for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry through research, education and advocating for policy change. They believe in a global fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit. In order to achieve this goal, the organisation conducts research that shines a light on the fashion industry’s practices and impacts, highlights where brands and retailers are moving too slowly and incentivises and promotes transparency and accountability across the supply chain.
Fashion Revolution Week takes place every year in the week of the 24th April, the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh in 2013. The Rana Plaza building housed a number of garment factories, employing around 5,000 people who manufactured clothing for many of the biggest global fashion brands. More than 1,100 people died in the collapse and another 2500 were injured, making it the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. From 18 – 24 April 2022, Fashion Revolution Week is specifically focusing on the theme Money, Fashion, and Power—calling on the fashion brands and governments to recognise that both people and nature are paying the price of the fashion industry’s unregulated exploitation and waste.
Image: Image courtesy of @Hannasin
"Brands are avoiding the realities of climate breakdown by continuing to pursue extractive business models and greenwashing their way to sustainability. In 2022, we need brands to radically reduce their environmental impact by shifting their focus away from growth. Small businesses and independent creatives around the world are already enacting these ideals; their courage and wisdom will lead the charge.
Currently, there is a lack of understanding and appreciation of the true cost of clothing. Price tags fail to reflect the social and environmental cost of production, while as consumers, we don’t always care for our clothes in the way we should. We need to scrutinise what it is we’re really paying for. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, we’ll educate and inspire our global community on the real value of what we buy and wear."
How to get involved:
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Post a selfie
This year, once again Fashion Revolution is asking people to hold brands accountable for their impact on the environment, the natural resources used in their materials and their waste footprint. On the Fashion Revolution website you can download a poster and post a picture of yourself on your favourite social media platform asking the brand you are wearing #WhatsInMyFabric?, #WhoMadeMyClothes? And #WhatsinMyClothes? Don't forget to tag Fashion Revolution @fash_rev too!
It is well known from research that brands pay close attention to the demands of their customers — and that these simple pleas for transparency can effect major changes in even the biggest fashion brands.
- Inspire others
In 2020, people went into lockdowns around the world and used the windows of their homes to share messages of inspiration and support, politics and protest with their neighbourhoods. This year Fashion Revolution wants to see people everywhere using their windows—and their creativity—to ignite a fashion revolution and spread the word. You can download Fashion Revolution's impactful printable posters, or get creative and make your own. -
Join an event
Throughout the week, Fashion Revolution will be celebrating changemakers and trailblazers from around the world through their Fashion Open Studio programme of free online events. The events demonstrate how the FR manifesto works in practice – for an industry that embraces alternative business models, preserves the environment and honours the people who make our clothes.
Discover more Fashion Revolution Week events.