ŌMINA PORTRAITS

After the collapse of the garment factory Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013 -where 1,134 workers died and approximately 2,500 were injured-, British designers Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro decided to take action. Together they founded Fashion Revolution, an activist platform advocating for greater transparency in the supply chain of international fashion brands.

Since then, Fashion Revolution has grown into the world’s largest fashion activism movement, with teams in over 100 countries, millions of people calling on brands to answer the question Who Made My Clothes? and making the hashtag #whomademyclothes no.1 global trending topic on Twitter in 2017.

“I could never have imagined that my crazy idea in the bathtub a few days after the Rana Plaza factory collapse would turn into the world’s largest fashion movement!”

1. Was it always intended for Fashion Revolution to become a global movement? Where did it start and how did you manage to make it grow in such an explosive fast manner?

I could never have imagined that my crazy idea in the bathtub a few days after the Rana Plaza factory collapse would turn the world’s largest fashion movement! I certainly didn’t intend for Fashion Revolution to become a global movement – I wasn’t even trying to think of a way to address the tragedy – but the idea came to me in the bath and it seemed like a good enough idea to get out of the bath and do something about it. So I did. After calling Orsola that evening, we sent out emails to all of the key people we could think of in the industry who might support the idea of organising something on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse the following year. And within a few months people began to hear what we were doing in Australia, in the USA, in Europe… by the time we reached the anniversary we had coordinators in 62 countries around the world. A few months later I handed over the reigns of Pachacuti, the brand I had founded and grown over the past two decades, and focused on building the Fashion Revolution movement.

“It is really exciting to see how we have managed to engage people who love fashion, but have never before thought about the rest of the story.”

The secret to our explosive growth lies in a number of factors. Firstly we tapped into people’s feeling of powerlessness and provided them with a positive way to make a difference, and the tools to be a part of the transformation of the industry. Secondly, we used the power of social media to spread our message. We began predominantly as a social media campaign in our first year, having no idea Fashion Revolution would grow into such a huge movement! However, we have always been a movement which has taken place as much offline as online. And finally we harnessed the creativity of an incredible team of people in the UK and around the world, all working for free initially, around the clock, to ensure the world would never forget the victims of Rana Plaza, and all the other people who have died in the name of fashion.

It is really exciting to see how we have managed to engage people who love fashion, but have never before thought about the rest of the story. Fashion Revolution has grown roughly 100% year-on-year with over 3 million people getting directly involved by posting on social media, downloading our resources, attending our events and organising their own activities last year and 275 unique users of our hashtags during Fashion Revolution Week.

“Several of the mass-produced luxury brands produce in Bangladesh on exactly the same production lines as the cheaper fast fashion brands.”

2. What were the major obstacles you faced while trying to achieve a global impact?

One key challenge has been addressing perceptions around the cost of clothing. Many people were horrified at the Rana Plaza disaster, but say they can’t afford to pay extra for ethically–sourced clothing. Three quarters of those questioned in a YouGov/Global Poverty Project survey said they would be likely to pay an extra 5% for their clothes if there was a guarantee workers were being paid fairly and working in safe conditions. It has been estimated that putting as little as 25p onto the cost of a garment made in Bangladesh would provide the producers with a living wage and pay for factories to meet fire and building safety standards. Basic ethical standards don’t have to come with a high price tag.

One key challenge has been addressing perceptions around the cost of clothing. Many people were horrified at the Rana Plaza disaster, but say they can’t afford to pay extra for ethically–sourced clothing. Three quarters of those questioned in a YouGov/Global Poverty Project survey said they would be likely to pay an extra 5% for their clothes if there was a guarantee workers were being paid fairly and working in safe conditions. It has been estimated that putting as little as 25p onto the cost of a garment made in Bangladesh would provide the producers with a living wage and pay for factories to meet fire and building safety standards. Basic ethical standards don’t have to come with a high price tag.

Cheap prices make consumers believe they bring about savings. This may appear true in the short term, with a narrow focus and looking just at the money in our wallets, but all of us, as global citizens, will ultimately end up paying the external cost, the true cost of the unsustainable consumption and production. We have a huge obstacle ahead in changing people’s perception of what ‘cheap’ really means.

“Six years ago, the Rana Plaza factory collapse shook the fashion world and ignited a Fashion Revolution. Millions of people are now using their voices and their power to call for greater transparency…and it’s working.”

3.What would you name as the major achievements of Fashion Revolution in terms of the way clothes are produced?

Historically brands have been pursuing policies and strategies with little thought, or care, for their wider implications. Six years ago, the Rana Plaza factory collapse shook the fashion world and ignited a Fashion Revolution. Millions of people are now using their voices and their power to call for greater transparency…and it’s working.

In our annual Fashion Transparency Index, we have reviewed 150 major global fashion brands and retailers, including dozens of British companies, and have found that 37% are disclosing their first tier manufacturers, where their clothes are cut and sewn together, up from 12.5% in 2016. We know that a significant number of brands now publishing their factory lists are doing so as a result of Fashion Revolution and of their customers asking #whomademyclothes.

Brands are starting to tell stories about their makers and materials and showing us where our clothes are made and who made them, using the hashtag #Imadeyourclothes. Gildan, Zara, G Star Raw, Fat Face and Monsoon are amongst some 4000 fashion brands and retailers that responded with photographs and information about their workers during Fashion Revolution Week last year.

When citizens and consumers are equipped with more — and better quality, credible, comparable —information about the human and environmental impacts of the clothes they buy, they are able to make more informed choices when they are shopping. Increased transparency also means issues along the supply chain can be identified, addressed and remedied much faster. Greater transparency also means best practice examples, positive stories and effective innovations can be more easily highlighted, shared and potentially scaled or replicated elsewhere. Transparency is the key to revolutionising the fashion industry and the unstoppable progress of transparency within the industry over the past 6 years is undoubtedly our greatest achievement.

“We have a huge obstacle ahead in changing people’s perception of what ‘cheap’ really means.”

4. In the last years consumer awareness about the environmental and social damage of fast fashion has raised at a fast pace. Nevertheless, according to McKinsey and Company, in 2018 global fashion sales grew by about 4.5 percent, adding up to $1.7 trillion. Why are consumers still seduced by fast fashion? Is it just a price-based decision? What else can be done to reverse this trend?

The way fashion is produced and consumed has been dramatically scaled and sped up over the past 30 years and so too have we seen more frequent and deadlier garment factory disasters and more significant and faster environmental degradation. The Rana Plaza collapse was the direct result of ever longer supply chains, and a resulting shift in responsibility. What happened reflects a global trend of increased ‘demand’ which feeds the fast fashion supply chain.

Through advertising and media, companies tell consumers that they ‘need’ to keep up with the latest trends and that their identity is defined by what they consume. This only serves to fuel fashion’s overproduction, overconsumption, waste and negative social impacts. This is the prevailing business model in the fashion industry in many countries; the need to ‘sell, sell, sell’ and deliver shareholder return is paramount above all else, no matter the social or environmental consequences. Over the past few decades, consumers have been witnessing and willingly participating in a cycle of accelerated growth that is putting undue strain on our resources and the people involved in the fashion supply chain. To reverse this trend, the way that we produce and consume clothes needs to be transformed, meaning business models will need to change and a multiplicity of solutions will be required.

In an Ipsos MORI survey of 5,000 people across the five largest EU markets published by Fashion Revolution in November, consumers told us they want to know more about the social and environmental impacts of their garments when shopping for clothes and they expect fashion brands and governments to be doing more to address these issues.

Ultimately, if governments are serious about improving human rights, social impacts and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry then in order to reverse the current trend they must rewrite the rules of the economy so that shareholder profit is no longer prioritised above the protection of our ecosystems and the health and wellbeing of our communities.

“The global fashion industry is opaque, exploitative and environmentally damaging and desperately needs revolutionary change.”

5. What are Fashion Revolution main challenges for the upcoming years?

The global fashion industry is opaque, exploitative and environmentally damaging and desperately needs revolutionary change. Whilst more brands are starting to publish their policies and commitments, we still have no way of knowing if their procedures are truly effective and driving improvements for the people making our clothes.  In the Fashion Transparency Index last year, we found only 55% of brands and retailers published measurable, time-bound goals on improving environmental impacts, whilst only 37% publish human rights goals. Only around half are reporting on the progress they’re making towards achieving these goals and this reporting frequently covers only environmental goals. Many brands are simply failing to take steps to ensure their policies are put into practice.

“Poverty, human rights abuses, unfair wages, discrimination, environmental pollution, waste and lack of transparency all remain endemic within fashion.”

The biggest challenge ahead is the creation of a common framework for the disclosure of social and environmental information. We need universal, industrywide accountability standards which will help highlight best practice and areas for improvement, allowing both brands and their customers to see how they compare to the rest of the industry. Ultimately, greater regulation will be required to get the laggards to move and to level the playing field, which will benefit those brands who already have robust due diligence and reporting procedures. Without legislation, many brands will continue to willingly publish only selected information. We are hopeful that the recent Environmental Audit Commission Inquiry into sustainability in the fashion industry, in which Fashion Revolution played a key part, will lead to some progress in terms of legislation, but there is clearly a lot more to be done.

“Most companies are still operating in broadly the same way that enabled the Rana Plaza disaster to occur…”

6. How do you envision the fashion industry in 15 years?

Transparency will continue to be key to Fashion Revolution’s strategy for revolutionising the fashion industry. While some progress has been made around the health and safety of workers, not enough has changed, and change is not happening fast enough. Most companies are still operating in broadly the same way that enabled the Rana Plaza disaster to occur, relying on auditing for basic legal compliance.

In the 2018 Fashion Transparency Index published in April last year which ranks 150 of the biggest fashion brands and retailers according to how much they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impact., 12 brands scored zero percent and 48 brands and retailers (32%) are scoring in the bottom 0-10% range. This shows that many brands and retailers are still lagging far behind, disclosing very little about their social and environmental practices. The 100 brands who were surveyed in 2017 and again in 2018 showed a 5% improvement across all areas of the methodology.

Progress is not going to be fast, certainly not as fast as is needed in all areas. Poverty, human rights abuses, unfair wages, discrimination, environmental pollution, waste and lack of transparency all remain endemic within fashion. In 15 years we will have made progress and sustainability and transparency will be firmly on every brands agenda, and enshrined in legislation, but we will still, sadly, have a long way to go until we see an industry that is truly transparent, where people can work with dignity, in healthy conditions, earning a fair wage, without fear of losing their life.

I do, however, firmly believe the industry can change, given the right incentives and impetus. My dream for the future of the fashion industry is embodied in our Manifesto for a Fashion Revolution which we wrote last year. It is our vision for the future of fashion. Please read it and sign it!