A huge industry disaster is prompting a global revolution.
Fashion Revolution Day will take place on April 24th to commemorate the two year anniversary since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1000 workers.
Around 65 countries including Australia will participate in events across the globe that will call for transparency for the ethical practices of fast fashion chains.
Issues ranging from pollution to exploitation will be under the spotlight.
Many brands might be feeling the heat as research conducted by Deloitte points to only one in three fashion companies engaging consumers with regard to sustainability.
A 2013 Australian Fashion Report found that an alarming 61 per cent of companies surveyed did not know where their garments were made.
Fashion Revolution founder, Cary Somers, believes this simply isn't good enough.
“I saw that the Rana Plaza disaster could act as a catalyst, with the heightened awareness around ethical fashion providing a window to bring about real change. Fashion Revolution Day represents an exciting opportunity to reconnect fashion-lovers with the people who made their clothes.”
One of the major initiatives on the day will be documented through the hashtags #whomademyclothes and #fashrev, inviting consumers to wear an item of clothing inside out exposing the label, take a photo and post it to social media platforms.
Fashion Revolution co-founder seems to think that this engagement will spark food for thought.
“With the gesture of turning your clothes inside out, we believe this action will encourage people to imagine the ‘thread’ from the garment to the machinist that sewed it and all the way down to the farmer that grew the cotton it was made from. We hope that Fashion Revolution Day will continue to ignite a process of discovery, raising awareness of the fact that buying is only the last step in a long journey involving hundreds of people: the invisible workforce behind the clothes we wear".
Designers Akira Isogawa and Kit Willow – set to launch her ethically driven label KITX – are among the prolific Australians who will participate in Fashion Revolution Day.