By Carolina Benjumea- @carolina.be95
Right after Fashion Weeks, there is the Fashion Revolution Week. From April 18th to April 24th in different cities around the world, this week explores the different initiatives done by the fashion industry to create a positive impact on society.
Founded in 2013 by Orsola de Castro and Carry Somers, Fashion Revolution Week commemorates the Rana Plaza disaster; where the collapse of a building in Bangladesh killed 1.134 people and exposed the cruel reality of the fashion industry. This was a turning point for the industry because it was the first time the world saw the horrible conditions of those making our clothes. Since then, each year, hundreds of people gather to pay tribute to the lives lost, asking for a change in fashion.
This year’s theme was “Money Fashion Power”, which seeks to rethink how is distributed the wealth in the fashion industry. According to Fashion Revolution, “there is no sustainable fashion without fair pay. We 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”.
Panels, Workshops, conferences, and many more activities open for everyone are part of this year’s schedule. Here is a list of some of the top events of the Fashion Week Revolution (some of them are already posted online):
Good Clothes Fair Pay: Living wages in the global fashion supply chain
Policy experts of the Fashion Revolution explain to us the unfair payment conditions lived by people who make our clothes. In this Q&A, panelists talk about how fashion companies are getting richer, but garment factory workers are getting every time poorer, their struggles to pay for a decent lifestyle, and the initiatives that are starting to get noticed, to provide these people with fair pay.
MONEY FASHION POWER Book Club
Fashion Revolution representatives from all over the world get together in a one-of-a-kind conversation about the fanzine, Money Fashion Power. In this book club, the conversation revolves around the histories behind the clothes we buy, told directly from the makers themselves, and the meaning of the price we pay for clothing.
Fashion: The Other Side
Designer Samiul Alam’s exhibition and presentation of his collection named “Blood, Sweat & Tears”. A collection that aims to show fashion through the eyes of a factory worker and to condemn their hard conditions. Followed by a discussion with panelists about this problem that has been present in fashion for so many years.
Indigenous Fashion Panel
Fashion Revolution Canada hosted an online panel discussion about the reality of Indigenous fashion. With a panel of indigenous clothing designers, a fashion researcher focused on indigenous clothing, and an artist that uses ancestral practices, the conversation focused on the past and present and its challenges for the future.
Fashion’s Obsession with Wealth
An interesting panel that discusses the eagerness of younger generations to achieve status and power and how luxury brands are helping them get it.
Repair Workshops
Open to everyone, this event teaches people how to repair their garments or how to upcycle them, instead of buying a new ones. The idea is to extend the life of garments to stop consumerism.
Clothes swaps
Another great initiative at this year’s Revolution Fashion Week is the Clothes swaps. Instead of buying new clothes exchange them with someone who no longer wears it. These events were held in Colombia, the Netherlands, and many more countries.
Upcoming events:
How to fight Greenwashing
Presented by ID Factory, a platform that helps fashion companies to be in control of their production chains, this panel aims to give tips to brands on how to turn their eco-responsible actions into real actions instead of Greenwashing actions. This event will be presented online on April 28th.
Op shop like a pro
Get insights on how to improve your ethical wardrobe. Where to shop, what to look at when buying clothes, and the best sustainable addresses and secondhand shops. This digital webinar will take place on April 26th.
Boy Wonder x Fashion Revolution – Sustainability in Kidswear Panel Chat
How to make kids’ clothing sustainable? an important question that the panelists of this online chat will try to respond to. To all those who wish to buy sustainable clothing for their kids or turn their kid’s label into a sustainable brand, here you will learn what is needed. Taking place on April 25th.
Repair + Rewear Workshop
If you live near the Gower College Swansea in the UK and want to learn how to repair your clothing, then you cannot miss this event that will take place on April 26th.
