Fashion Revolution Week - How To Host an Event

HOW TO HOST AN EVENT

Revolution is

OUR AIMS

An end to human and environmental exploitation in the global fashion industry

Safe, dignified working conditions and living wages for all people in the supply chain

Redistributed and more equal balance of power across the global fashion industry

A bigger and stronger labour movement in the global fashion industry

Fashion Revolution Week is our annual campaign bringing together the world’s largest fashion activism movement for seven days of action surrounding the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse on 24th April 2013.

A global fashion industry that works to conserve precious resources and regenerate ecosystems

A culture of transparency and accountability across the value chain

An end to throwaway culture and shift to a system where materials are used for much longer and nothing goes to waste

Heritage, craftsmanship and local wisdom are recognised and valued

Read our Manifesto

Fashion

a global movement with a collective vision for a fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit.

Planning and Promoting your event

Physical or virtual?

Fashion Revolution Weeks have always been about bringing people together to amplify our message. Once upon a time, we saw more than 1,800 physical events hosted around the world in shops and studios, schools and universities, coffee shops and community hubs. Across the last two years, we have seen our community turn the magic of these events into online talks, summits and zoom calls. The bonus was that going digital allowed attendees from different cities, countries and continents to share stories and swap ideas. This guide will give you the tools you need to plan an event that is either taking place in person or bringing people together online.

If you’re hosting an event in-person, begin by securing a space - this could be your school or workplace, or you could look for free venues like community clubs. You can reach out to coworking and event spaces and find out if they’ll donate their space for the cause.

The logistics

You can print out our ‘Who Made My Clothes?’, and ‘What’s in My Clothes?’ signs to encourage people to take pictures at the event and share them digitally. If you’re able to print out other resources as well, consider our Manifesto, postcard templates , or our campaign posters .

If you’re partnering with an event space, such as a gallery, theatre venue, coworking space, or brand, ensure you talk about clear guidelines and expectations in advance. Use printed resources to make the event interactive.

If you’re hosting an event online, begin by choosing a platform – like Zoom, Instagram Live, Facebook or YouTube Live. Your choice will depend on the level of interaction you want from attendees.

Make sure you leave enough time to generate interest in your event. Try to begin advertising the event at least 3 weeks before it takes place. Upload your event on the Fashion Revolution events page , to help bring in attendees. You can also use a 3rd party ticketing platform like EventBrite to help manage ticket sales and attendees. Promote your event on social media to help spread the word. You can use the Fashion Revolution logo to brand your event, but make sure you follow our brand guidelines.

If the event is in partnership with other organisations (such as an event space), make sure you follow directions on how to use the Fashion Revolution logo in our brand guidelines.

You can also find Fashion Revolution Week social media assets here .

When sharing your event on social media, include the hashtags

#FashionRevolution, #WhoMadeMyClothes? and #WhatsInMyClothes? to help it spread.

photo: Athina Korda

Promote your event

Fashion Revolution is a charity and non-profit organisation. Fundraising

Everything that we do to work for a fair fashion industry is made possible by grants & donations from people like you. Where possible, we encourage events to be made free to attend, so these remain accessible to all attendees.

If you’re hosting a free event, you can give attendees the option to donate to Fashion Revolution as a way to fundraise for our activities.

In our experience, charging a very small ticket price for virtual events helps ensure that attendees are more likely to turn up, and gives a better estimation of the expected number of attendees ahead of the event.

You can print and use this envelope template to collect donations at your event. You can also collect donations in advance by creating a ‘donation-optional’ ticket price on EventBrite.

We ask that if you are using our resources to host a ticketed event (including our logo, this events guide, our branding and our digital assets) you donate some or all of the proceeds to Fashion Revolution.

After your event, you can donate your funds raised here and use the reference FRW and the year.

In the UK, guests can donate to us via text... Text ‘FASHION’ followed by the amount of your choosing (up to £20) to 70085. e.g FASHION5 to donate £5. Please note, you will be charged your donation amount plus your standard network charge.

What kind of events take place during Fashion Revolution Week?

The opportunities are endless, but we’ve put together a short list of some of our favourite event ideas and activities.

Host a film screening

Film screenings are a great way to educate your community, school, workplace, or peers about the realities of the fashion industry. We’ve shortlisted a few of the most eye-opening movies and documentaries on the fashion industry on the right.

Feature Length Films

• The True Cost (2015)

• River Blue (2017)

• Made In Bangladesh (2019)

• The Price of Free (2018)

• The Machinists (2013)

• Clothes to Die for (2014)

Short Films

• Who Made My Clothes? (2018)

If the film you want to screen is available on a streaming service you could create a watch party and host a remote movie night.

Film screenings are also a great opportunity to include more interactive elements, like a ‘Who Made My Clothes?’ photobooth, or a panel discussion with local experts.

• Unravel (2012)

• Two Euro T-Shirt (2015)

• Tears in the Fabric (2014)

• La Libertad (2017)

• Catwalk to Creation (2019)

• Frontline Fashion (2019)

• Made in Mexico (2019)

photo: Bibith Joy

Host a roundtable conversation or panel discussion

Panel discussion, talks and roundtables are a great way to educate people about the issues in the fashion industry through interactive talks and presentations.

Begin by choosing a theme or topic. If you need some inspiration, take a look at our Key Messaging.

Reach out to local experts who are addressing the topic, such as journalists, authors, designers or academics.

For a panel discussion, it’s a great idea to have a chair, who will research the panelists and plan questions in advance. Begin by having panelists introduce themselves and their work. Consider questions that the panelists may have varying viewpoints on, and take audience questions at the end.

Roundtable discussions can be more casual, and have fewer attendees than a panel discussion so that everyone can contribute. Try using a talking stick to help keep order.

Hold a march or public demonstration

Sometimes the best way to make a statement about an issue is to take to the streets! Don’t think of this action as a targeted protest, but an awarenessraising demonstration around the problems in the fashion industry. Fashion Revolution doesn’t endorse shaming or targeting individual brands, we find it more effective to focus on systemic issues.

Beforehand, get together with friend to create informative and inspiring posters. Choose a location, like a busy retail

shopping street or public space, and spread the word. On the day, speak to your crowd or group and invite others to give speeches too. Then march your signs down a predetermined route and share your movement on social media along the way.

For more ideas, check out this article about Fashion Revolution Germany’s Fashion Revolution Move . And visit Sustainable Fashion Matterz .

If you aren’t quite ready to organise a march, consider getting together with friends and creating some fashion related signs for a climate march already taking place. You could even use our ‘What’s In My Clothes’ posters. Make sure the protest or gathering is permitted in relation to Covid-19 restrictions.

Host the panel discussion on a webinar platform, such as Zoom, and you can also live stream onto YouTube or Facebook.

It’s hard to have a protest indoors, but you can print one of our posters or make your own and hang it in your window at home to invite community members and neighbours to discover Fashion Revolution Week!

Organise a public stunt

Do you have an idea for a stunt that can educate the public about Fashion Revolution and the issues in the clothing industry? These stunts can be formulated from anything, but we’ve created a list of past stunts to get you started:

• In 2015, our Fashion Revolution Germany team created a public experiment to highlight the high cost of cheap clothes.

• The Craftivist Collective has created a guide to making a mini fashion statement to leave in the pocket of a garment in a shop.

• Many groups have organised alternative catwalk shows , featuring upcycled clothes or thrifted garments.

Put on an exhibition

If you’re part of a making community, or you know people who are creating art and fashion in support of a more sustainable and transparent fashion industry, why not host an exhibition to show off the creativity?

For inspiration, check out The Walk-Through , an exhibition hosted by Fashion Revolution Philippines in 2019. You can view the Exhibition guide here . Fashion Revolution Vietnam also hosted an exhibition at the Vietnam Women’s Museum in 2019.

We have also seen brilliant examples of single installations, like this one by Laura Françios of the Fashion Revolution Singapore team.

Use the exhibition space as an opportunity to host additional events during the display, such as a panel discussion within the exhibition.

There are a number of online tools you can use to create virtual exhibitions. From simple blog post and tumblr feeds to dedicated websites and custom-built interactive experiences.

Museums or Galleries in your city might already use Google Arts and Culture to create virtual exhibitions so see if they would be interested in highlighting some of their collection for Fashion Revolution Week.

Hold a creative workshop

If you specialise in making, or you’re a designer or artisan, consider hosting a making event or workshop for Fashion Revolution Week.

Host a clothes swap

Clothes swaps are a great way to bring communities together and celebrate clothing longevity all while refreshing your wardrobe.

A Mending Station invites the public to bring in their torn and worn clothes and has sewers and makers on-hand to patch, darn, stitch and repair.

An Upcycling Workshop can unfold in many different ways, but usually involves turning discarded clothes or offcuts and scraps into new forms of clothing and accessories.

A Stitch n’ Bitch is a cross between a roundtable discussion and a mending circle, where attendees bring their own sewing and mending projects to work on and take part in a guided conversation.

It’s easy to host a virtual workshop online, by using an interactive webinar platform and having one maker lead the creative task.

For inspiration, check out our virtual Stitch & Bitch or see online tutorials and mending workshops on our Fashion Open Studio playlist.

photo: Ellie Morag

Other ways to get involved

Attend an event

During Fashion Revolution Week, thousands of events take place hosted by fashion revolutionaries around the world. Find one near you.

Download free resources

We believe our resources should be available for everyone, regardless of income, you can download all of them for free here or leave a small donation.

Fashion Open Studio

Take part in Fashion Revolution’s showcasing initiative, which sheds lights on innovative designers from around the world.

how you can engage your students and peers during Fashion Revolution Week.

Read our latest reports

All of our latest reports including the Fashion Transparency Index, Consumer Survey and our Out of Sight Transparency report can be found here.

Read up

Educate yourself on the issues and get inspired by new ways to help create change.

Spread the word

Use your voice to invite others to join you in taking part in Fashion Revolution Week. Find our social media assets, posters and campaign materials here.

Help us keep our resources open source and free for all, so we can create a fashion industry that values people and planet over profit.

DONATE

If you found this resource useful, please consider making a small donation of £5/$5/€5 to help us change the system.