A manifesto for the Fashion Revolution.
The fashion industry is exploitative, for people and planet. The only thing that benefits is big business.
Fashion Revolution was founded by Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster in April, 2013. It is now the world’s largest fashion activism movement, which mobilises citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education and advocacy. 10 years on it is an organisation building momentum with those still not privy to the destruction that fashion causes — environmentally, socially and economically — and all very much mostly tipped against those in the Global South.
This post runs through Fashion Revolution’s 2023 manifesto. It envisions what the fashion industry could look like, and so that you can visualise what the industry looks like now, I’ll give some tidbits, statistics and solutions alongside each manifesto point.
Rana Plaza.
Cracks were discovered in Rana Plaza the day before it collapsed. The shops and bank in the eight-storey complex on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, were closed on 24 April 2013, though many employees at the premises’ five garment factories still went to work, rather than risk losing their pay.
In fact, on that morning, the upper levels of the imposing, illegally extended building were crammed as usual. As many as 5,000 workers were there – sewing buttons, hemming trousers, racing to meet demanding targets – so that shirts, jeans and dresses could be shipped off to myriad brands, with Mango, Primark and Benetton among those linked to the complex. ~ Rana Plaza Ten Years On, British Vogue
Manifesto #1.
Fashion provides dignified work, from conception to creation to catwalk. It does not enslave, endanger, exploit, overwork, harass, abuse or discriminate against anyone. Fashion liberates worker and wearer and empowers everyone to stand up for their rights.
What we have now:
Currently, the fashion system we have favours only profit and growth over the mental and physical support of its workers, whether that’s the farmers producing fibres, or factory workers finishing textiles, garment workers producing clothing, and even generally those across the rest of the chain in design, distribution and retail.
The industry isn’t just related to the production and sale of clothing. It is a vast network of producers and suppliers. Each segment of the supply chain has its own issues of exploitation, harassment and discrimination. It is felt most strongly by the Global South — because there are instabilities in politics and legislation, and otherwise their economies anyway — though isn’t heavily featured by the media. In the Global North you’re more likely to come across unpaid interns or unequal pay in a design office, though there are garment factories operating as sweatshops.
Some solutions:
Legislation for fair pay across the world. This means frameworks.
Brands disclosing their supply chain information, and that means everything, not just want they think we want to know or what they have access to. They need to do the work. There’ll also be resources for actions you may like to take.
Increase in public awareness so that there is active participation in demanding information on industry exploitation. That’s from the raw material extraction through the farm or factory through to the production and retail.
Actions:
Sign the Good Clothes, Fair Pay petition to legislate that companies do living wage due diligence in their supply chain.
Check out the Fashion Transparency Index 2022, an annual report that reviews and ranks 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers on their transparency efforts. [Read my article on why transparency doesn’t = sustainabilty].
Manifesto #2.
Fashion provides fair and equal pay. It enriches the livelihood of everyone working across the industry, from farm to shop floor. Fashion lifts people out of poverty, creates thriving societies and fulfils aspiration.
What we have now:
Currently, the minimum wage of garment workers is: $75/month Pakistan, $72/month India, $94/month Bangladesh, $89/month Myanmar, and $54/month Sri Lanka. But as mentioned above, the fashion supply chain is huge, and this is only one segment that has some disclosure on wages. Farmers who grow cotton for instance, are at the whim of market price fluctuations along with the weather affecting yields and so there isn’t a stable income (not to mention the debt they get into with purchasing genetically modified seeds and pesticides). And each country has it’s own wage laws in addition to what is classed as a living wage, which is why “fair and equal pay” is required as a baseline. There’s the Europe Floor Wage ensuring a living wage is paid to workers of all garments imported into Europe.
Another current problem is with subcontracting. This can include “homeworking” where people will work out of their homes, and isn’t necessarily detrimental (as it could mean they have more family time and don’t need to commute) but there is little oversight as to how many workers there are being subcontracted.
More and more women are slipping to sub-contracted and piece-rate work. This means increased targets for less wages. They are struggling to make ends meet. Their work means they do not have time for their families and children.” ~ Sonia Wazed, Clean Clothes Campaign Research Coordinator
Some solutions:
Again, legislation for fair pay, globally.
Continued investigation into all of the supply chain workers and what more needs to be done to lift them out of poverty.
Removing the possibility for factories to subcontract to subcontracters, as this diminishes stability of work and possibility for transparency, and therefore ability to change wages for the better.
Actions:
Use the Fashion Checker tool to see if your favourite brand is paying their workers a living wage, and if not, hold them to account by writing an email or tagging them on social media.
Join the Pay Your Workers campaign that calls on brands to pay their workers just 10 cents more, respecting labour — and human — rights. There are reports on the garment wage gap.
In the first thirteen months of the coronavirus pandemic, garment workers globally lost 11.85 billion dollars in income. ~ Clean Clothes Campaign
Manifesto #3.
Fashion gives people a voice, making it possible to speak up without fear, join together in unity without repression and negotiate for better conditions at work and across communities.
What we have now:
Currently, workers fear repercussions to their wages and to their bodies if they speak up against any exploitation. The right to organise and collectively bargain is mostly under threat as unions are criminalised.
Today, former Rana Plaza staff tell Vogue about being beaten and verbally abused by bosses. They worked in cramped, sweltering spaces, sometimes until the early hours. Some were getting paid as little as 4,600 taka, around £35, a month and were admonished if they asked for time off. ~ Rana Plaza Ten Years On, British Vogue
Additional to garment worker rights, human trafficking is rife, but how can these people speak up for themselves in an opaque industry? Embroiled within this and as its own challenge, is that of sexual harrasment, not only in the garment worker sector, but in other design, distribution and retail areas of the industry.
Some solutions:
Combat modern day slavery and human trafficking in the fashion industry.
Continue to address gender-based violence in the world of work through laws and mechanisms.
Work for access to trade unions.
In a practice dating from Soviet times, the repressive governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan continue to force their own citizens to pick cotton under harsh conditions each harvest season. [Anti-Slavery, Cotton Crimes: Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan]. There are reports that prison labour in China has been used to produce garments for well-known Western brands. ~ Fixing Fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability report 2017-19
Actions:
Learn about modern day slavery from Freedom United.
Be encouraged to take practical peaceful action through upskilling resources from Labour Behind the Label, such as how to pocket drop, how to target brands online, and how to organise a demo.
Manifesto #4.
Fashion respects culture and heritage. It fosters, celebrates and rewards skills and craftmanship. It recognises creativity as its strongest asset. Fashion never appropriates without giving due credit or steals without permission. Fashion honours the artisan.
What we have now:
Currently, brands appropriate other cultures without fully crediting, or even at the very least, respect the context in which the craft was conceived. Additionally, brands will steal ideas from independent designers.
There’s also the issue of colonialism, where brands and retailers will enter another country without authorisation, taking whatever they want and expecting workers to fall in line. Offshore manufacturing became possible during colonial times, and we’ve stayed in that production mindset because it’s cheaper.
For the clothing industry to survive in the UK and EU, we need new legislation that only allows goods into our Economic Blocks that are made to the same Labour, Human Rights, Health and Safety and Environmental standards, outside as inside. This would raise the cost of outsourced goods and make domestic manufacturing (i.e. manufactured within our Economic Blocks) more competitive and viable. ~ Katherine Hamnett on trade policy.
Some solutions:
As artisans or designers, understand what legalities you have in terms of Intellectual Property. Artisans could form a co-operative so that there is support in numbers.
Integrating craft-based practices back into education so that there is visible value in such work.
Advocating for onshore (at-home) production to increase job security (and additionally industry transparency).
Actions:
Learn how craft can enable dignified work and greater social inclusion via Nest’s artisan community programmes.
Support makers and businesses part of the World Fair Trade Organization. Or support businesses within your home country.
Manifesto #5.
Fashion stands for solidarity, inclusiveness and democracy, regardless of race, class, gender, age, shape or ability. It champions diversity as crucial for success.
What we have now:
Around 300 million people work in the fashion industry - and approximately 80% of garment workers are women of colour. ~ Transform Trade
Currently, there is a discrepancy with who fashion is “for”. There’s an elite separation, especially when it comes to “sustainable” fashion and luxury goods that it’s only for some. And of course it’s that way because of the price point. But those who make those goods won’t ever be able to afford them, no matter where they’re placed in the supply chain. And yet most clothing is democratic; take jeans or a pair of Converse for instance.
There’s also a disregard for diversity in the workplace, which includes championing — even at the very least — making accessible the space for those with disabilities.
Some solutions:
Advocating for a diverse industry is fairly straightforward; simply use the models, the employees, the building design as per the diversity of our world anyway. But it does mean restructuring business so that it isn’t only white men at the top.
Ensuring living wages also means that employees can participate in fashion more easily than if they’re constantly on the poverty line.
Clothes themselves can also champion diversity, by being designed for all bodies in mind.
Actions:
Slow Factory Foundation have a plethora of resources in their Open Education programme with the course on Systemic Racism and Identity Politics as integral to this manifesto point.
Manifesto #6.
Fashion conserves and restores the environment. It does not deplete precious resources, degrade our soil, pollute our air and water or harm our health. Fashion protects the welfare of all living things and safeguards our diverse ecosystems.
What we have now:
Currently, the industry is extractive. There isn’t space here to go into fine details but ultimately the industry takes what it wants, create products that don’t beneficially degrade, and leave consumers (even those who didn’t consume that product) as those who must clean up the mess.
In 2016 alone, 7.6 billion m3 of water was consumed during the production of raw materials to make clothing and 5.25 billion m3 of this was consumed in the production of cotton for the UK. ~ WRAP, Valuing Our Clothes report 2017
Some solutions:
Extended Producer Responsibility legislation so that brands and retailers are held accountable for the produce they put out.
Design with end of life in mind. Design with materials that will beneficially biodegrade. Choose better fibres (which involves being educated on all the options first). [If you’re a designer or brand, learn about materials via Textile Exchange, and others can follow me on my other Substack for fibre guides].
Actions:
Think before you buy. If you’re looking at something new, can you buy an already existing version preloved instead?
Loved clothes last, so repair what you have. Read about waste and mass-consumption in this Loved Clothes Last zine from Fashion Revolution.
WRAP research shows that extending the life of clothes by nine extra months can reduce carbon, water and waste footprints by around 4-10% each.
Manifesto #7.
Fashion never unnecessarily destroys or discards but mindfully redesigns and recuperates in a circular way. Fashion is repaired, reused, recycled and upcycled. Our wardrobes and landfills do not overflow with clothes that are coveted but not cherished, bought but not kept.
What we have now:
Currently, fashion operates in a take-make-waste linear model. Circularity is a system whereby all resources and materials come back around at some point to be reused and repurposed. There will be waste at some point, so taking it one step further and designing regeneratively will mean that all waste is in fact of benefit to another system (even if not one within fashion).
Some solutions:
Design regeneratively so that all components in that garment have a purpose. Fashion is frivolous, clothing is functional, so how can we design in a way where it’s all enjoyable and less wasteful? [Read Regenerative Fashion by Safia Minney].
In 2020, the academics Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham used IPCC statistics to estimate that the global fashion industry must reduce the use of virgin resources by 75% by 2030. ~ Regenerative Fashion, page 10.
Actions:
Participate in circular business models, through preloved purchases, swap shops, and rental. WRAP’s consumer research has found that on average, clothing lasts for 3.3 years before it is discarded or passed on.
Educate yourself on where your textiles and clothing actually go when you discard them. “Charity shop donation rates are high, but around three hundred thousand tonnes of clothing still ends up in household bins every year with around 20% of this going to landfill and 80% incinerated” [WRAP, Valuing Our Clothes: the cost of UK fashion (July 2017)]. Otherwise it’s exported to places like Ghana’s mass landfills; learn more about this via The OR Foundation.
Read about the circular economy via the Ellen Macarthur Foundation.
Manifesto #8.
Fashion is transparent and accountable. Fashion embraces clarity and does not hide behind complexity nor rely upon trade secrets to derive value. Anyone, anywhere can find out how, where, by whom and under what conditions their clothing is made.
What we have now:
Currently, the fashion system is opaque. Customers are in the dark about who is actually making our clothes, where our materials are farmed, the ingredients used to process them into fibre and fabrics, and where our clothing ends up when we’re done with it.
Some solutions:
Education. About what the fashion supply chain looks like, and about what fibres are and where they come from. How fashion and food are embroiled in the same system of exploitation with land grabbing for fibre increasing food poverty and carbon emissions.
Transparency. With exactly what goes into the garments we wear; an ingredients list and origin map.
Actions:
Learn about trade issues that affect each area of the fashion supply chain from purchasing practices, to due diligence, to child labour, via Ethical Trading Initiative, to become better equipped when making your own purchasing decision.
Ask questions. Who made your clothes? What’s in your fabric? [Read my article on how to dive deep into that].
Manifesto #9.
Fashion measures success by more than just sales and profits. Fashion conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit.
What we have now:
Currently, the fashion system favours profit and growth over valuing people and planet. Though sustainability and ethics are buzzwords, there is still an issue with overproduction and mass-consumption. Brands produce more than required for fear of missing out on sales, or otherwise produce on a quick turnaround to have customers fear they’re missing out [see SHEIN for that case study]. They also overproduce because the cost of their orders will also be reduced in line with more = cheaper.
Some solutions:
Radical degrowth. This involves scaling back production so that less quantity and better quality garments are created. Production would be decentralised so that local communities can create their own economies.
Only produce enough. We already have enough clothes, so fashion needs to be purposeful.
Actions:
Learn about Doughnut Economics, and how this could shift our production models away from profit and towards value.
Learn about Fashion and Degrowth from Extinction Rebellion.
Manifesto #10.
Fashion lives to express, delight, reflect, protest, comfort, commiserate and share. Fashion never subjugates, denigrates, degrades, marginalises or compromises. Fashion celebrates life.
What we have now:
Currently, fashion could be described as an industry that delights and comforts. There’s no denying that purchasing fashion — whether new or preloved — satisfies a need in us for self actualisation; the feeling that we’re part of something. Style is an expression of who we are, but it is also the cause of bullying, as any teenager would know. Apart from the ability for our clothing to showcase if we’re rich or poor, our clothing also attests to the folk who have produced what we’re wearing. Fashion already celebrates life in the form of the many hands who have touched and created our goods, but it does so secretly as we’re never fully privy to all origin information.
Some solutions:
To shift how fashion is taken, we need to shift human mindset to one that is accepting, not denigrating. But unfortunately, judgement will never be fully removed. Fortunately the mindset towards shopping from charity or preloved as “poor” has shifted and there is now less stigma attached. This needs to continue.
Transparency of the fashion supply chain from farm to shop is required so that education is increased.
Actions:
Celebrate yourself with what you wear. Fashion is the key way to show the world who you are. If dressing up is not your thing, then it doesn’t mean you’re not part of the fashion system as you still buy clothes, so be conscious that every purchase you make (even preloved) has a cost to many other lives.
Thank you for reading.
I hope this has given some introductory overview to the challenges facing the fashion industry, and the ways that the fashion system can support a beneficial shift elsewhere.
If you have any recommendations on reports, organisations and actions, please comment.
To receive a complimentary guide to fashion organisations and food organisations that you can follow for more information, please sign up to my newsletter below. You could also subscribe to me on Substack where you’ll receive the same.