Fashion Revolution Week 2022 Roundup
Fashion Revolution Week is the time when we come together as a global community to help create a better fashion industry. It centres around the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, which killed around 1,138 people and injured many more on 24 April 2013.
This year, as we marked 9 years since the tragedy, Fashion Revolution Week focused on the fashion industry’s exploitation of labour and natural resources. We explored who holds power in the global fashion industry, and how growth and profit are rewarded above all else. The campaign highlighted the inequality ingrained in our current industry, amplified unheard voices from across the supply chain and collaborated with our global community to reimagine a regenerative, restorative and revolutionary new fashion system.
We shared the experiences of people affected by poverty wages within the global supply chain, and highlighted the importance of living wages and how we can achieve them. Our global community started valuable discussions across the globe and reflected on fashion practices in which people and the planet work in harmony. Together we identified the problems and highlighted how fashion can be a force for good.
Here, catch up on some of the week’s highlights and find out how to stay involved with our work, all year round.
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Money, Fashion, Power
Our theme for Fashion Revolution Week 2022 was Money, Fashion, Power. Inspired by our bestselling fanzine, this year’s theme builds on the knowledge that the mainstream fashion industry relies upon the exploitation of labour and natural resources.
There is no sustainable fashion without fair pay. After fashion brands made billions during the pandemic, the majority of workers in their supply chains remained trapped in poverty. To address this, we are calling for new laws that require businesses to conduct due diligence on living wages, transforming the lives and livelihoods of the people that make our clothes and helping redistribute money and power in the global fashion industry.
We called on citizens everywhere to demand transparency and accountability from brands, with thousands of you asking #WhoMadeMyClothes? Collectively, we made our voices heard and showed solidarity with those trapped in poverty within the global supply chain chain.
Our global network of garment workers, producers and trade unions also shared content about themselves and their work with the hashtags #IMadeYourYourClothes and #IMadeYourFabric. Workers’ voicers are central to our movement, so we used our platform to uplift their stories and ensure they are heard around the world.
We know that both people and nature are paying the price of the fashion industry’s unregulated exploitation and waste. Brands are avoiding the realities of climate breakdown by continuing to pursue extractive business models and greenwashing their way to sustainability. This year, we urged brands to radically reduce their environmental impact by shifting their focus away from growth. Small businesses and independent creatives around the world are already enacting these ideals; their courage and wisdom will lead the charge.
Currently, there is a lack of understanding and appreciation of the true cost of clothing. Price tags fail to reflect the social and environmental cost of production, while as consumers, we don’t always care for our clothes in the way we should. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, we encouraged our community to scrutinise what it is they’re really paying for, by educating people on the real value of what we buy and wear and inspiring them to reflect on their relationship with their clothes.
This year’s Fashion Revolution Week saw people use their power to demand better from the fashion system – but our work is not done yet. We will continue to push for legislation that protects garment workers, increased transparency to identify and tackle the issues within our current fashion industry, and for consumers to drastically alter their relationship with their clothes. Find out more and get involved.
Living Wages and ECI
Wearing good clothes means the people who made them receive fair pay for their work. But right now, the majority of textile and garment workers are not earning enough to meet their basic needs. A living wage is not a luxury, it is a fundamental human right.
With our new European Citizens Initiative, Good Clothes, Fair Pay, we are demanding laws that protect the human right to fair pay. We want to see a living wage for the people who make our clothes around the world. For too long, fashion brands have promised to do the right thing and they haven’t. We cannot wait for voluntary measures from individual brands. The industry needs to be regulated and held accountable.
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During Fashion Revolution Week, we held a panel discussion and Q&A with industry experts, exploring living wages in the fashion supply chain and introducing our new campaign. The panellists shone a light on the broken global fashion system, from the harrowing experiences of garment workers to the true value of our clothes to the accumulation of extreme wealth, and why properly enforced legislation is essential if we are to create lasting change.
The message was clear: We need to take action now to radically transform the industry and drastically alter our relationship with our clothes.
You can catch up on the conversation here.
Fashion Love Stories & Loved Clothes Last
Many of the problems with fashion overconsumption and waste stem from a lack of understanding and appreciation of the true cost of clothing. To address this, we asked you to share your fashion love stories during Fashion Revolution Week, encouraging you to reconnect with the clothes that are already in your wardrobe and love them like the good friends they are.
Throughout the week, people shared photos, videos, letters, poems and stories dedicated to their beloved items of clothing. It was inspiring to see so many people boldly declare their love for their clothes, in a time where fashion is seen as disposable and trends don’t last for more than a year. Your actions helped change the conversation around the true value of clothing and will continue to motivate people to reconsider their relationship with fashion.
Here are some of our favourite stories from #LovedClothesLast
@distoffa Lo so…è una giacca di camoscio, ma torna a vivere tramite il #secondhand! #loveclotheslast @fashionrevolution @ #vintage #vintagestyle #fashionrevolution #fashionrevolutionweek ♬ suono originale – distoffa
@swapsociety One of our fave parts about the @Fashion Revolution #fashionrevolutionweek are all the #fashion love stories. What’s yours? #lovedclotheslast #fashionrevolution #slowfashion #sustainablefashion #whomademyclothes #fashionactivism #clothingswap #swap #vintageclothes #vintagefashion ♬ original sound – swapsociety
#IMadeYourClothes & #IMadeYourFabric
Opaque supply chains can enable exploitative working conditions to thrive while obscuring who has the responsibility and power to redress them. This is why transparency is essential to begin transforming the fashion industry. The people who make our clothes are the beating heart of the global fashion industry, yet too often they remain invisible.
Fashion Revolution Week has always been about hearing their stories; the makers, machinists, artisans, dyers, spinners, weavers and farmers. This year, it’s been incredible to see thousands of #IMadeYourClothes and #IMadeYourFabric posts shining a light on producers.
Here are some of our favourites:
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Event Highlights
Around the world of Fashion Revolution:
This year we hosted a variety of in-person and online events to explore this year’s theme, collaborating with industry experts and our global community. Across six continents, events, campaigns and activities happened throughout the week, as we collectively reimagined a just and equitable fashion system. To kick off Fashion Revolution Week 2022, we held an Instagram live with our global network, highlighting the incredible work of our community.
Watch the live recording here.
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Money, Fashion, Power Book Club:
This year’s theme was inspired by our zine of the same name, so we held a virtual book club with Fashion Revolutionaries around the world, to discuss the topics of money, fashion and power and how they relate to the fashion industry in their local context. We loved connecting with our country coordinators to hear their views on this year’s theme, it was a valuable discussion that gave our zine a new perspective.
You can watch the discussion back here.
Fashion Open Studio Highlights
Fashion Open Studio is Fashion Revolution’s showcasing and mentoring initiative since 2017. Through exhibitions, presentations, talks, and workshops with emerging designers, established trailblazers and major players, we celebrate the people, products and processes behind our clothes.
The 2022 Fashion Open Studio events demonstrated how our manifesto works in practice – for an industry that embraces alternative business models, preserves the environment and honours the people who make our clothes.
Our Fashion Open Studio designers gave us a lot of food for thought this year; from Argentinian brand MANTO’s workshop demonstrating ancient artisanal weaving techniques, to White Weft’s studio tour and Pattern Project’s pop-up micro factory, to the Lagos Space Programme at Woven Threads that explored the multiple facets of sustainability, including circular design, traditional crafts, and a responsible approach to producing fashion.
You can catch up on all of the Fashion Open Studio events on our youtube channel.
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Global Network Highlights
@fashionrevolution Highlights from our global network during this years #FashionRevolutionWeek ❤️🌍 #FashionRevolution #Activism #SustainableFashion ♬ Luxury fashion (no vocals) – TimTaj
With 90+ teams all around the world, Fashion Revolution Week 2022 was a truly international movement. Here are just a small selection of highlights from our local country teams:
- Fashion Revolution UAE explored how digital fashion and NFTs intersect with sustainability.
- Fashion Revolution Argentina invited us to join their Transparency in Fashion Wikipedia edit-a-thon.
- Fashion Revolution Netherlands offered an opportunity to reflect on your own fashion stories and to connect with other change-makers.
- Fashion Revolution teams in Venezuela, Peru and Mexico discussed cultural appropriation in the fashion industry.
- Fashion Revolution Uruguay discussed the role of social networks and influencers in responsible consumption.
- Fashion Revolution Canada hosted a virtual panel discussion on Indigenous fashion, from two designers, a fashion researcher, and a moose-hide tanner.
- Fashion Revolution USA and expert panellists took an inside look at how policy can help shape the fashion industry.
- Fashion Revolution Ireland and Fashion Revolution Scotland teamed up with clothes sharing app Nuw for a virtual clothes swap.
- Fashion Revolution Singapore hosted a communal mending studio, resource library and art installation.
- Fashion Revolution Denmark discussed repair, sustainability and social responsibility in fashion.
- Fashion Revolution Bangladesh hosted a virtual panel, ‘Can Fashion be a Force for Good?’
- Fashion Revolution Argentina showcased artisans from the textile industry
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You are the Fashion Revolution
We are so grateful to everyone in our community for getting involved in Fashion Revolution Week on social media and beyond. Every single voice makes a difference in our fight for a fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit.
We are a not-for-profit organisation, so everything we do is made possible by the generosity of grants and donations.
If you enjoyed our content and events during this year’s Fashion Revolution Week and want to help us continue our work all year round transforming the fashion system, please consider donating to us. If you would like to donate directly to your local team, you can also find them here.
How your money is spent:
- Conducting vital research on transparency, consumption, conditions and more that shakes up the industry from the inside out.
- Liaising directly with powerful policymakers to help uphold human rights throughout the fashion supply chain.
- Helping our teams in 90+ countries around the world to facilitate meaningful local community action through financial and operational support.
- Directly supporting our network of partner organisations to make a difference in the lives of the people that make our clothes.
- Creating free, open-source resources, events, tools and educational content to turn as many people as possible into fashion revolutionaries.
From all of us in the Fashion Revolution team, we appreciate your support and we look forward to seeing you next year!
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