Brand Showcase 2017: Directional Womenswear
Lookbook 1 of 6 focusing on luxury, directional womenswear from sustainable brands and designers who are members of SOURCE
Lookbook 1 of 6 focusing on luxury, directional womenswear from sustainable brands and designers who are members of SOURCE
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INTERVIEW<br />
What the<br />
Fashion Revolution<br />
means for retailers<br />
Carry Somers is the founder and Global Operations<br />
Director of Fashion Revolution – a post which, as her<br />
co-founder and Creative Director Orsola De Castro points<br />
out with a laugh, shortens to GOD.<br />
While not exactly omnipotent, there’s no doubting that<br />
Fashion Revolution is making waves as a movement to<br />
demand more transparency from brands and retailers. It<br />
was set up after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory<br />
building in 2013 which killed more than 1,000 garment<br />
workers. In 2016, Fashion Revolution’s hashtag<br />
#whomademyclothes appeared more than 156 million<br />
times across social media feeds as consumers started<br />
asking the brands they wear to talk about the people who<br />
actually make the clothes.<br />
<strong>Brand</strong>s are beginning to respond. More than 1,200 replied<br />
in 2016, up from a mere 250 in 2015. Clothing producers<br />
are responding even more, with 3,500 replying directly via<br />
#Imadeyourclothes.<br />
What does this mean for fashion boutiques and retailers?<br />
In advance of Fashion Revolution Week <strong>2017</strong> we spoke<br />
with Carry and Orsola.<br />
Fashion Revolution is a great consumer<br />
movement. What can fashion boutiques and<br />
shops, both on the high street or online,<br />
learn from this?<br />
C (Carry): Fashion Revolution shows that consumers are<br />
really interested about where their clothes come from.<br />
Last year on social media, 70,000 people asked ‘who made<br />
my clothes?’. Retailers should see that people are looking<br />
for accountability, and that their customers, particularly<br />
millennials, are more engaged in sustainability issues.<br />
O (Orsola): Boutiques should be looking at smaller<br />
businesses that have embedded sustainability into<br />
their processes from the start. They should also give<br />
space to younger generations, to artisans, to different<br />
projects.<br />
What if these businesses and artisans,<br />
however sustainable, seem too much of a<br />
risk?<br />
O: Taking a risk is what makes boutiques unique. It’s<br />
only recently that there is no diversity in the fashion<br />
industry, and people rely so much on known brands<br />
with huge PR budgets. What boutiques and<br />
independent retailers can do brilliantly is combine the<br />
two – the smaller, lesser known labels and the more<br />
established brands. 14
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