Where to from here after Fashion Revolution Day 2014?

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

Imagination triggers

The more I create and am guided in my course assessments to start with a reference point of collated images, textures and words that inspire and help to convey what I will be working towards... the more I realise the value in this curating process. It is something that I have done sub-consciously my whole life: picking up rocks and bits of rope that have interesting shapes/colours/patterns, tearing pictures from magazines, scribbling down quotes/lyrics/phrases/something a friend has said, keeping scraps of fabric. My walls are covered  and my cupboards bursting with these collections, but they are all a part of my life's inspiration board. They all have memories attached: dreams, ideas, scents, emotions.

And when I return to them, as I do to my collages and mood boards that I create for my course assessments, I am transported to a place where my imagination is guided by the boundaries of the subject yet has the freedom to explore myriad directions. These collections of mine have no monetary value though to me they are priceless. They are my trigger, kept close as I never know when my imagination will fire. 

A wall in my studio.

  Piecing together my inspiration collage for my wearable art garment. The theme is "Dreams and Nightmares". My inspiration is the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh on April 24, 2013.

This last image reminds me of a quote I read recently, although I did not record the author:
"Call me old fashioned, but I would prefer people did not die while making my clothes".

These images make me feel sick, but what I feel is nothing on the reality of the nightmare behind the fashion industry, where people are dying or trapped in a lifetime of slavery, being paid so little as to entrap them forever.

My goal is to create a piece of wearable art that will mark the year anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse, and encourage people to initiate conversations about where their purchases come from.

♥ Yasmin

Squiggly line

Life follows a squiggly line... eight years ago, I was studying holistic Health Promotion. I learnt about how "the concept of health includes interrelated dimensions of spiritual, mental, social and physical health and wellbeing".

This was the foundation to wanting to find out more about stuff. Stuff like: where our food comes from, where our clothes come from, how does what country you're born in affect what your life will be like?

For years prior I had been buying my clothes from op shops in an effort to create a look that was not straight from the pages of a fashion mag telling me how I "should" look. Once I started to find out more about who was making these clothes on a mass scale, and how these people and the environment were being mistreated I actually found myself feeling ill about having ever purchased something that was made this way. My eyes had been opened and I could never close them again, even if I had wanted to.

I made a promise to myself that I would never stop asking questions.

In the background of all of this going on I have always loved to make. I found myself making more and also consciously using 2nd hand materials that I had uncovered on my op shopping adventures. I felt like if if I could use resources that already existed, I would be spending my money in a more responsible way. I didn't have the funds to support the eco textile industry so I felt like this was the next best thing as the money was going to charity, not unethical retailers.

This squiggly line has led to me studying a Diploma of Fashion Design and Technology. I'm loving this new direction, especially embracing the interconnectedness between my previous studies and my goal of establishing an ethical and sustainable clothing and accessories label. I'm hoping to not only provide another choice to the mass produced, trend based, cradle to grave, fast fashion that has defined the past decade or so but I also hope to encourage you to ask questions... about everything.

♥ Yasmin

P.S. I've included a link to the paper that my Health Promotion studies were based on, if you'd like to read more on the subject...

http://www.academia.edu/216840/The_Red_Lotus_Health_Promotion_Model_a_new_model_for_holistic_ecological_salutogenic_health_promotion_practice

Conscious decision

I don't want what everyone else is having. I don't want to contribute to landfill by buying clothing that has built-in obsolescence and is made in an unsafe environment by people who are not paid a fair and living wage. I made a conscious decision many years ago to not support any business that values profits over people and the environment. This is extremely important to me. It is for this reason that I buy and wear second-hand, vintage, handmade or fairly traded clothing, or if I can't find what it is that I want, I make it myself. I love that each piece has it's own story - one that I can share with others when asked "Where did you buy that? I love it!" 

I think getting dressed every day should be fun and our clothing should make our souls smile.

♥ Yasmin

Exterior schmexterior

Today I modelled my swimwear and various other garments I designed and made throughout this past year. The fashion show was our "end-of-year gig" and was open to the public at the Eumundi Markets, QLD Australia. Anyway, this modelling was a challenge that I gave myself as I felt it was important to display a variety of peoples' exteriors in the show.

And so I walked.
With my short hair, and my flat shoes.
My 167cm height and my freckles.
My tattoos, brandings and piercings' scars.
My tummy, thighs and toenails.
My arms, my legs and my elbows... my exterior was on display.

Now I know fashion shows are done to showcase the clothes but we all know that when that person who's wearing them is walking down the runway we're checking out their body also. Judging them, judging ourselves, trying to ascertain how we stack up next to them.

As if the people on the catwalk are the pinnacles of human exteriors and we must strive to attain an exterior of their 'level'. You know what? It's bullshit. You've been sold a lie. A lie that is peddled so that you will feel shit about yourself and the only thing that could possibly make you feel better is if you buy x/y/z product/outfit and hopefully, maybe, you might have a chance to look like the person you originally saw it on. Well, you're never going to. Not even the models look like each other, except that they're usually over 178cm.

As someone who in my early teens struggled for years with disordered eating, anorexia and bulimia (A trifecta! Winning!) in an effort to affect the way I looked, I am super happy to say that I now love my body. It does all of the things that I would like/need it to do and I'm quite happy with the way I'm constructing this argument and processing my emotions.

I feel quite raw emotionally from the event today, and I know that I just need to ride it out, but I hate that this topic is something that can trigger this feeling. If we were able to let go of our body hang ups and truly embrace, love and nourish ourselves in a way that enables us to be healthy emotionally, mentally and physically then imagine what we could achieve!  We would free up so much thinking space. Our imaginations would be free to dream about anything and everything and we would have the self-belief to be able to explore the possibilities.

I feel like I'm getting there and it's a fucking awesome feeling.

Oh, and I also received the Innovation Award today for my first year studying Applied Fashion Design and Technology. Pretty stoked.

♥ Yasmin

"TRASHED" the film

Feeling very humbled but also excited to have a wee stall at the FREE screening of 'Trashed' the film at USC THIS FRIDAY NIGHT 5PM!!!

We want to show you that there are alternatives to mass produced items that have inbuilt obsolescence.
This is not an info night to make you feel down, but rather an uplifting night to meet people of all walks of life and discuss how our collective conscious choices actually do matter :)

Hope to see you there!
♥ Yasmin

https://www.facebook.com/events/1423696887849822/

Homework + organic Australian wool

I'm filling out specification sheets (includes a digital illustration flat sketch of a garment + sewing/care instructions) for a design assignment and have to fill in details of the fabric we would choose to use...

So I started to research organic Australian wool fabric and stumbled across this article that details Australian organic standards, and encouraging people to do their homework about the manufacturing process of organic products. Good point!


Enjoy the read,
♥ Yasmin

http://www.1millionwomen.com.au/2013/08/14/1mw-guide-to-sustainable-fabrics-organic-wool/21:29 21.10.13