Fashion Revolution Week 18th - 24th April
Fashion Revolution Week is an annual campaign that takes place every year in the week surrounding the 24th of April. This date is the anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 1,100 and injured 2,500 workers in 2013. The majority of these were young women.
The campaign aims to “collectively reimagine a just and equitable fashion system for people and the planet”.
The real cost of clothing
There is a disconnect between the price of the clothes we buy and the true social and environmental cost of production. The volume of clothes produced and bought is growing at an unsustainable rate and relies on a “culture of disposability”. In 2015, around 150 billion items of clothing were produced and this number continues to grow. We buy 60 per cent more clothing now than we did 15 years ago and we only keep these clothes for half as long as we used to. By keeping and wearing clothes for longer, by swapping and donating, we can help to lower the impact. Research from WRAP has found that extending the life of a garment by 9 months would reduce its carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% each.
Unsustainable materials
Added to the sheer volume of clothing produced are the unsustainable materials used. “Our clothes are made from materials and processes that require the extraction of natural, non-renewable resources and produce considerable negative environmental impacts. Each of the common materials we wear carries its own set of environmental issues, from the oil extraction required to create polyester, acrylic and nylon to the deforestation for viscose or heavy pesticide use in farming cotton”.
About 60 per cent of global fibre production is polyester, a man made plastic fibre which is made using crude oil. Every time we wash these items, individual microplastic fibres are shed and enter into the waterways. Every year, Irish people dump 225,000 tonnes of clothing – a huge waste of water and energy considering that it would take 13 years to drink the amount of water needed to make one t-shirt and one pair of jeans.
Decent Pay for workers
Fashion Revolution Week calls attention to the pay disparities between the fashion brands, who "have made billions, while the majority of workers in their supply chains remain trapped in poverty". They are calling for new laws that require businesses to conduct due diligence on living wages. This will transform the lives and livelihoods of the people that make our clothes, and help redistribute money and power in the global fashion industry.
Fashion Revolution Week is a "global movement of people who make the fashion industry work, the people who wear clothes and the people who make them, the designers, academics, writers, business leaders, policymakers, brands, retailers, marketers, producers, makers, workers and fashion lovers".
LEARN MORE AT www.fashionrevolution.org/