Did you see it yesterday? Fashion Revolution day?
On twitter, instagram and fb all around the world people were remembering the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh one year ago by turning their clothes inside out and asking the brands #whomadeyourclothes ?
I posted a few photos on my fb here:
Weloveanawkwardchat
If you'd like to know more about the organisation behind the day click here:
http://fashionrevolution.org/
Basically the whole day is about encouraging people to ask questions about where their clothes come from. Which, of course, is what I'm all about so I'm all for it!
The hashtags #insideout #whomadeyourclothes #fashionrevolution were used so that the organisation can collate the data to give weight to lobbying for international policy change regarding safe, fair and ethical working conditions for people within the fashion industry. And let's not think that we're only talking about the actual sewers... the clothing industry is quite unique in that it uses such a broad spectrum of workers to get the clothes from seed to farm to processing to weaving/knitting the fabric to dyeing/printing to cutting to sewing to ironing to quality checking to branding/packaging to shipping to warehouse to retail to you... and that's assuming the garment is made from a natural fabric and is simplifying the process A LOT. What about the buttons? The zips? The tags? The dye/printing ink? The people in logistics? The list of jobs in the clothing industry really is endless...
What I am wondering is where do we go from here?
Well, I came up with this: don't boycott 'Made in Bangladesh' or any other country (it also happens in Australia you know) that you think doesn't treat their workers ethically unless you contact the company directly to let them know why. I know, this seems like a weird thing to say but think about it... we can create change by communicating with the brands and telling them what is important to us and what we care about... we have that power because we are the consumers of their product. If we just stop buying from them and don't explain why, it is highly likely they will just move on to the next cheap trend that they've 'predicted' (that's a whole different story), continue to pay their workers an unlivable wage and nothing will change. We need to let them know that we care about how their workers are treated. And this goes for the governments too.
No-one should be paid so little that they are enslaved, and no-one should die because they have been forced to work in an unsafe workplace. It's that simple.
Contact your favourite brands and ask them what policies they have in place to ensure the ethical and safe treatment of ALL workers in their supply chain. Be polite, you're more likely to get a response. But also don't just take their answer at face value-if you don't understand their jargon, ask again for further explanation. If they're being evasive, let them know that you won't be buying their products until they are better able to answer your questions because this is something that is very important to you and you do not want to contribute to other people's suffering.
And then feel good about your actions. Because you should. Remember this when you go shopping: we ask questions about our food, it is just as important to ask questions about where our other purchases come from.
As today is ANZAC Day in Australia I awoke feeling reflective and determined. Reflective about how our world has changed since 1914 and determined to ask questions and do what I can to help ensure our worldwide community and our environment are nourished, valued and looked after.
There is always more to be done, this is a great starting point in encouraging conversation about where our stuff comes from.
♥ Yasmin
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