Haileybury Gazette | Hope | Issue 9

WHAT IS THE FASHION REVOLUTION AND HOW
WAS IT BORN?
Eight years ago, the glossy facade of the global fashion
industry was shattered following the collapse of the Rana
Plaza factory in Bangladesh. The eight-storey garment factory
collapsed after the upper four floors were built without
permission, becoming the deadliest garment-factory disaster
to ever occur. In addition to more than 1300 killed, 2515
people were injured. Many of the survivors had been trapped
under tons of rubble and machinery for hours or even days.
Material: Plastic Bags
SDG12: Responsible
Consumption and Production
(reduce single use items)
Workers at the garment factory manufactured items for major
fashion outlets including Benetton, Bonmarché, Mango,
Matalan and Primark. The incident generated an international
outcry about workers’ safety, workplace conditions and
labour rights, resulting in extensive coverage in international
media through the #WhoMadeMyClothes campaign. It
encouraged shoppers to ask more questions and for retailers
to do more to seek out sustainable solutions. The Fashion
Revolution Movement was established two years later. Its
purpose is to encourage conversations about how the fashion
industry can improve ethically and sustainably around the
world.
Today, the goals and efforts of the movement coincide with the global sustainable goals of
the United Nations, which the organization adopted in 2015 with focus on transition to
sustainable consumption and production models.
“We campaign for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and
accountable fashion industry. We do this through research,
education, collaboration, mobilisation and advocacy,” -
We consume too much and too
fast. Over the past 15 years,
clothing sales around the world
have doubled, while the
average life of clothing has
fallen sharply. On average, we wear something for less than a year. And if it requires repair
- even less. Extremely high demand in consumption is due to low prices for consumers, but
the cost to the environment of our extravagance is enormous. The amount of CO2 emissions
from the textile industry annually amounts to more than a billion tons. To top it off, there is
also pollution of the world's oceans with microplastics from textile fibers and the use of toxic
chemicals. All in all -- we have too many clothes that we do not use for long enough. The
price tag does not reflect the true cost of making them. Many garment workers do not even
receive living wages!
Fashion Revolution
8