We’re in need of a Fashion Revolution
Let’s ask ourselves, how sustainable is the fashion industry? Are garment workers and seamstresses paid a living wage? Are workers' rights implemented in foreign countries? Let’s find out. Fashion Revolution, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainability and equal pay in the fashion industry, sheds light on these issues. Based out of the United Kingdom, Fashion Revolution has sparked a global movement to reshape fashion’s impact on our environment.
This non-profit organization was founded in response to the tragic Rana Plaza disaster on April 24, 2013. Near Dhaka, Bangladesh, an eight-story building housing five garment factories collapsed, claiming the lives of over 1,100 people. This tragedy highlighted the urgency needed to reform garment industry practices, equal wages, and sustainability in all aspects of the fashion industry. Today, Fashion Revolution is the world’s largest activism movement, working to mobilize citizens, brands, and policies around the globe.
In four words, we need Fashion Revolution. This organization strives to correct the fallacies in the fashion industry and create change. In response to countless disasters in the industry, they are committed to ending human and environmental exploitation by promoting sustainable practices and encouraging the use of materials to improve the quality and quantity of clothing production. To provide safe, dignified working conditions for all, they also advocate for equal balances of power across the global fashion industry.
Fashion Revolution focuses on research, education, and advocacy to achieve radical change in the fashion industry. Through numerous global campaigns, they raise awareness and educate people about the fundamental obstacles in the industry. This organization collaborates with activists to reframe the narratives in fashion culture, ultimately voicing the issues we need to fix. They provide resources to help communities understand the extent of needed change and in turn, bring people together to make history.
In the past 11 years, Fashion Revolution has revolutionized the fashion industry. Through policy, they’ve renewed international accords on health and safety measures to ensure the safety of garment workers in Bangladesh and beyond. They’ve promoted equal wages in the fashion supply chain, potentially benefiting over a million garment workers in the industry. They’ve also created resources, practical guides, and innovation events to express the need to think differently about fashion, ultimately reaching over 5.8 million viewers on social media and over 5 million viewers through the press.
This non-profit organization would not exist today without the inspiration and incentive from founder Carry Somers. Known for her multi-award-winning fashion brand Pachacuti in 1992, Somers pioneered a radical fashion supply chain that was the world’s first Fair Trade Certified company. After the Rana Plaza Disaster, Somers acted to enhance the fashion industry and call to attention the need for sustainability and health & safety alliance in machinery working conditions. She created the Fashion Revolution Foundation, alongside Orsola de Castro, to prevent further disasters from striking in the fashion industry and improve the quality of production and livelihood in the fashion industry.
Fashion Revolution has told the world that no one else should die in the name of fashion. Bringing attention to past events, they remember the lives that have been lost and fight to protect the future of fashion workers. Furthermore, they fight for the environment, the clothes in our closets, and most importantly, the people. Through slogans, “What’s in my clothes?” and “Who made my fabric?”, they make us ask ourselves, where did our clothes come from? This movement has shed light on the toxicity of the fashion industry and it’s time we unite to protect the people and planet affected by it.
