2019 Impact
In 2019, Fashion Revolution became bigger and louder than ever before, more people asked #whomademyclothes, more people within the supply chain answered #imadeyourclothes and a new wave of brands took a step towards becoming more transparent.
Read the full report to find out more or keep scrolling to view the highlights.
READWE ARE FASHION REVOLUTION
We’re here to tell a different story about the clothes we wear. We are designers, academics, writers, business leaders, policymakers, brands, retailers, marketers, producers, makers, workers, trade unions and fashion lovers. We are the industry and we are the public. We are world citizens. We are you.
We believe that positive change can happen if we all think differently about fashion and demand better. We want a cleaner, safer, fairer, more transparent and more accountable fashion and textiles industry. We want fashion to become a force for good. We believe in an industry that values people, the environment, creativity and profit in equal measure.
Model
Fashion is now one of the most globalised industries. This globalised model is fragmented, opaque and built upon the exploitation of precious resources and of people, especially those from marginalised communities. We need to rethink how the industry works. We need to rethink the model.
Material
Fashion has a huge, and often negative, social and environmental impact. The production of clothing and the way we take care of our clothes after we buy them uses large amounts of land, energy and chemicals, polluting water sources, and producing too much waste.
Mindset
If we want to see fashion become a force for good, we’re going to have to change the way we think about what we wear and why we wear it. We need to love our clothes more. We need to look at them as precious heirlooms and as trusted friends.
This Materials, Models and Mindsets framework was created by Prof. Rebecca Earley and Dr. Kate Goldsworthy and adapted by Fashion Revolution.
A Manifesto for a Fashion Revolution.
We love fashion. But we don’t want our clothes to exploit people or destroy our planet. We demand radical, revolutionary change.
This is our dream…
Read and sign the Fashion Revolution manifesto here.
Our voices can change everything.
Since Fashion Revolution started, people from all over the world have used their voice and their power to tell the world that things must change. And it’s working. The industry is starting to change.
More brands are being open about where their clothes are made and the impact their materials have on the environment. More manufacturers are making their factories safer and more of the people in the supply chain are being seen and heard. More designers are considering people and planet when creating new clothing. More citizens are thinking before they buy.
But the story is far from over. We are only just getting started. We can’t stop until every worker who makes our clothes is seen, heard and paid properly and the environments they live and work in are safe. We cant stop until the culture of consumption is changed and we learn to love and appreciate our clothes and the people that made them.
Together, we will create a revolution.
GLOBAL NETWORK
Fashion Revolution exists because of the dedicated and passionate volunteers that operate worldwide. The global network is made up of diverse individuals who have voluntarily taken on the roles and responsibilities associated with this position. They come from all areas of the fashion industry, give Fashion Revolution its strength and reach and provide people around the world with the opportunity to engage.
Find and follow your country teams on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Find your country team“Fashion Revolution has the solutions. We can engage you with your wardrobes, with your principles, with your gut feelings and show you something you can do.”
– Orsola de Castro, Co-founder, Fashion Revolution
PARTNERSHIPS
We are honoured to work with organisations that are actively fighting for systemic change within the fashion industry. Read some case studies in the full report (linked below).
These collaborative actions allow us to raise global awareness of the industry’s issues and to hold companies and governments to account, encouraging real change.
POLICY MAKERS
Involving policy makers in our campaign is vital if we hope to make changes at a governmental level. We must continue to fight for better laws and regulations that achieve systemic change across the global fashion industry. We do this by lobbying and working together with lawmakers, elected officials and policy influencers.
STUDENT AMBASSADORS
Students and young people have an incredibly important role to play now and in the future, as consumers and as members of the workforce. They have the ability to create the world that they want to live in.
The fashion industry covers so many different disciplines from geography to design to economics. Fashion Revolution student ambassadors set up diverse teams to create truly innovative initiatives to enlighten and inform their peers.
A COMMUNITY OF FASHION REVOLUTIONARIES
Fashion Revolution is a movement made up of diverse people all over the world coming together to create systemic change in the global fashion industry. ‘Fashion Revolutionaries’ are the hundreds of volunteers who activate their communities in more than 60 countries around the world and the hundreds of thousands of people that have joined the movement, followed us online, shared demands, attended or hosted events, read or watched content, downloaded resources and taken individual and collective actions in order to change the way the fashion industry works.
The information shown here is based on a series of surveys taken by a small section of our social media followers. The complete data for the surveys can be downloaded here
“[Fashion Revolution] is informative and truthful without being overwhelming or judgemental. You have inspired me to make real life changes.”
– Survey respondent
Read more about our revolutionary community in the full report
READ MORECAMPAIGNING
Fashion Revolution is a global movement that runs all year long. Through a series of activations that include Fashion Revolution Week and Fashion Open Studio as well as social media, events, digital resources, videos, fanzines and reports, we aim to celebrate fashion as a positive influence while also scrutinising industry practices and raising awareness of the fashion industry’s most pressing issues. We aim to show that change is possible and encourage those who are on a journey to create a more ethical and sustainable future for fashion.
Fashion Revolution strives to be action-oriented and solution focused. Rather than making people feel guilty, we help them recognise that they have the power to do something to make a positive change.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fashion Revolution is a de-centralised, global movement. We use social media as a means to raise awareness and spread the message among a varied range of demographics and to those we would otherwise never reach. Public posts to brands can create a level of accountability that offline methods could never reach. A large part of the campaign runs through social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and email newsletters.
FASHION REVOLUTION WEEK
22nd – 28th April 2019
Fashion Revolution Week is the time of year when all of our voices come together to make the most noise. We ask #whomademyclothes and encourage brands and producers to respond in support of greater industry transparency. We host events worldwide. We write postcards to our policymakers and we ask people to evaluate their relationship with their clothes by writing a love story to their favourite items.
“Fashion Revolution, I believe, is our greatest hope for change in the fashion industry. I’ve seen it grow from strength to strength. It is by far the strongest movement, and the most impactful.”
– Tamsin Lejeune, Common Objective
#WHOMADEMYCLOTHES
The fashion industry is responsible for a host of social injustices. It is impossible for us to make sure human rights are respected and that environmental practices are sound without knowing where our products are made, who is making them and under what conditions. This is what we are asking brands and retailers to publicly disclose by asking #whomademyclothes
#IMADEYOURCLOTHES
In response to customers asking #whomademyclothes, we invite brands and retailers to show us the people in their supply chain by sharing their stories, helping to transform the industry by demonstrating transparency in their supply chain.
EVENTS
Thousands of events are held throughout the year, the majority during Fashion Revolution Week. Events not only help to spread the message of change, they also seek to teach new skills, broaden minds and connect and support local communities. Panels and Q&As allow us to discuss ideas and collaborate, providing to engage with those with different experiences and ways of thinking.
DIGITAL RESOURCES
Fashion Revolution is proud to be an open-source platform, meaning it provides brand assets, cutting-edge research reports, practical how-to guides, inspiring Get Involved packs, informative educational resources and action-oriented campaigning tools as free, digital downloads on the website.
FASHION OPEN STUDIO, FASHION REVOLUTION’s showcasing initiative, launched in 2017, is a week of presentations, talks, openings and workshops shining a light on emerging designers, established trailblazers and major players, celebrating the people and processes behind fashion and accessories collections, promoting industry transparency and longevity through simple, authentic narratives that resonate with consumers and creatives alike.
“I think its really bringing awareness from production to consumer, all the way along the chain and making people really think about who made their clothes. ”
– Priya Ahluwalia, Designer on Fashion Open Studio
Read more about Fashion Open Studio and how to get involved
Read more
FASHION TRANSPARENCY INDEX
This is the fourth edition of the Fashion Transparency Index, which we conduct annually. This year we reviewed 200 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts.
The highest scoring brands – Adidas/Reebok and Patagonia – achieved 64% of the 250 possible points, showing even leading brands have significant room for improvement.
Of the brands reviewed since 2017, their scores have increased by almost 9%. This progress suggests that inclusion in the Index has motivated many major brands to become more transparent.
SUMMARY
In our 2015 White Paper, our wish was to start getting some real answers to our questions. We hoped to see thousands of brands and retailers willing and able to tell the public about the people who make their products. We hoped to see makers, producers and workers become visible, with thousands of their stories told. We hoped to to see more consumer demand for fashion made in a sustainable, ethical way and we hoped to see real transformative positive change begin to take root.
We believe these hopes have begun to be fulfilled, however, since 2015, new hopes have been expressed, new goals have been set.
As always, we thank our dedicated and passionate team of global revolutionaries. Your voices and actions make this change possible.
READ FULL REPORT
This website was created and maintained with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Fashion Revolution and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
