Fashion Revolution Week

A factory worker in Bangladesh, a fabric dyer in India, a cotton farmer in Vietnam. These are the shadows of the fast fashion industry.

Today marks the four year anniversary of the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,000 workers. This horrific event led to the creation of the non profit organization Fashion Revolution. Fashion Revolution was created to increase fashion transparency and to make people ask who made my clothes? Last year my friend from DAAP fashion camp introduced to me the to Fashion Revolution through Instagram, and as she says, "fast fashion isn't free." Now fashion sustainability and transparency have been high on my radar.

The shadows of the fashion industry need a voice, and many of the companies they work for are not giving them one. Too many workers in the third world countries are severely underpaid and work in unsafe working conditions. Companies need to start publicly sharing information of who works at the bottom of the supply chain and providing better working conditions and wages for their workers.

Promotion and awareness through social media is the number one way to make a difference and be part of the Fashion Revolution. However, another way you can support the Fashion Revolution is through shopping fair trade. Fair trade promotes justice for the workers (such as addressing issues of human trafficking and empowering women) who make the products and makes sure a FAIR price of the product is given back to the person who made it. There are fair trade stores all over the country, and I am very lucky to have one in my hometown! Fair Trade Winds has jewelry, clothing, knick knacks, and accessories from all over the world. Although the clothes can be expensive, the jewelry is very reasonably priced!

The ethics of fast fashion and all the flaws that come with it can never be permanently changed, but we do have the power to make the fashion industry of the future a more just and safer one than it is today. Go out and make a difference!

The Fashion Revolution's website: