DIGITAL
ACTIVISM FOR CITIZENS
Your guide to getting involved in Fashion Revolution Week 2020
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We are Fashion Revolution. 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.
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mobilisation: social mobilisation seeks to facilitate change by encouraging and enabling a significant number of people to engage in interrelated and complementary efforts. 1
advocacy: advocacy in all its forms seeks to ensure that people, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, are able to: 2
1. Have their voice heard on issues that are important to them. 2. Defend and safeguard their rights. 3. Have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives.
systemic: relating to an entire system, as opposed to a particular part. 3
We campaign for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry. We do this through research, education, collaboration, mobilisation1 and advocacy2. The issues in the fashion industry never fall on any single person, brand, or company. That’s why we focus on using our voices to uproot the entire system. With systemic3 and structural change, the fashion industry can lift millions of people out of poverty and provide them with decent and dignified livelihoods. It can conserve and restore our living planet. It can bring people together and be a great source of joy, creativity and expression for individuals and communities. We believe in a global fashion industry that conserves & restores the environment and values people over growth and profit.
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photo: @green_parks
Contents
o t k c i l c l e v a r t
What is Fashion Revolution Week?
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Actions we can take
What is Revolutio
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Fashion on Week?
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Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images
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Fashion Revolution week happens every year in the week surrounding the 24th of April. This date is the anniversary of the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse. Rana Plaza, a building in Bangladesh, housed a number of garment factories, employing around 5,000 people. The people in this building were manufacturing clothing for many of the biggest global fashion brands. Over 1,100 people died in the collapse and another 2,500 were injured, making it the fourth largest industrial disaster in history. The victims were mostly young women. @fash_rev
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During uncertain times such as our current global pandemic, we know that the most vulnerable are disproportionately affected. At the same time, the vast majority of the people who make our clothes are themselves vulnerable, and lacking sick pay, paid leave, or adequate health care. When we use our voices to hold big corporations accountable, we are part of the change in shaping a fairer world. To read more about the impact of COVID-19 on the people who make our clothes, visit our website: www.fashionrevolution.org org
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What is Fashion Revolution Week?
b o r p e h T o i h s a f the
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Ou r v o i c es can chang e ever yth fashionrevolution.org
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77% of UK retailers believe there is a likelihood of modern slavery in their supply chain.
Source: Hult Research & Ethical Trading Initiative, 2016
Conditions From child labour on cotton fields to trafficking and forced labour in the garment industry, the fashion supply chain routinely exploits the people who make our clothes. When fashion brands don’t take responsibility for human rights in their supply chain, the most vulnerable workers bear the burden of crisis such as the current pandemic. We are calling on brands to step up and demanding deeper transparency to help end modern slavery and uphold the human rights of everyone in the fashion supply chain.
Actions: email a brand, ask ‘who made my clothes?’, write a postcard to policy maker.
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Producing plastic-based textiles uses approx. 342 million barrels of oil each year.
Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017
Composition The textiles we wear are made from precious natural resources and generate massive environmental impacts in their production. Plastic-based materials that now comprise the majority of our clothes are shedding microfibres into waterways and endangering human health and nature. Plastic is a material with profoundly useful qualities, especially in the medical industry. But when it’s employed by fashion en masse due to its cheapness, our oceans and biodiversity pay the price. Ecosystems. And, many of the fibres we wear use harmful chemical processes in dyeing and finishing, which comprises the health of worker and wearer. Actions: email a brand, ask ‘what’s in my clothes?’, write a postcard to policy maker.
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Current estimates suggest that 150 billion new garments are produced annually.
Source: Sustainable Apparel Materials, 2015.
Consumption As consumption slows during the current pandemic, we must ask what kind of fashion system we want to return to, and ensure that we instill a culture of clothing longevity. It is time to rethink the nature of fashion consumption, adopting new ways of engaging with fashion, and calling on brands to rethink linear business models, honouring those who make our clothes and treasuring the clothes we own.
Actions: run a haulternative, swap ideas, write a love story.
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Over 90% of workers in the global garment industry have no possibility to negotiate their wages or conditions.
Source: IndsutriALL
Collective action From gender inequality to environmental degradation, the fashion industry continues to exploit people and resources. What we can’t achieve alone, we can champion together. When people join together their voices are amplified. This is as true for workers in the supply chain as it is for activists and campaigners. We want to mobilise everyone to join together and make change.
Actions: host a digital event, put on an at-home demonstration.
T th
Ou r v o i c e chang e eve
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Together, we will create a revolution.
Since Fashion Revolution started, people from all over the world have used their voice and their power to demand change from the fashion industry, and it’s working. The industry is starting to listen. We’ve seen brands being open about where their clothes are made and the impact their materials are having on the environment. We’ve seen manufacturers make their factories safer and more of the people in the supply chain being seen and heard. org
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Designers are now considering people and planet when creating new clothing. 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 can’t stop until the culture of consumption is changed and we learn to love and appreciate our clothes and the people that made them. fashionrevolution.org
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YOUR VO CHANGE EV _____
ASK THE #WHOMADEM #WHATSINM
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OICE CAN VERYTHING _____
E BRAND MYCLOTHES? MYCLOTHES?
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Actions we
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Action: Post a selfie holding one of our posters on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Tag the brand you’re wearing and ask them #WhoMadeMyClothes? and #WhatsInMyClothes? One of the simplest ways you can get involved is by using social media to challenge brands during Fashion Revolution Week.
where your clothes were made but not who made them. Some will direct you to their corporate social responsibility policy. Only a few pioneers will show that We know from our research they know something about that they are paying close the people who make their attention to the demands clothes. Let us know how of their customers - and they respond by tagging us that these simple pleas for at @fash_rev. transparency can affect major changes in even the If a brand doesn’t respond, biggest fashion brands. keep asking. Our power is in Some brands won’t answer persistence. at all. Some might tell you org
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Action: Following up. If a brand responds to your post or email, get specific.
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Gender Equality
“What policies do you have in place to make sure harassment?”
Safe working conditions
“Do you conduct independent audits to every fact people who make your clothes? Do you have any
Fair pay
“Do you know how many workers in your supply c How are you working to ensure that all of the work
Modern Slavery
“Do you publish your 2nd (processing facilities) an organisations perform due diligence around mod
Water Contamination
“Do you publish a ‘Restricted Substances List’? Do
Waste + Landfill
“Do you incinerate your unsold stock? Do you sen to reduce pre-consumer and post-consumer was waste?”
Carbon Emissions
“Do you publish your annual carbon footprint, for y your carbon footprint? What is your target carbon
Animal welfare
“Do you publish an animal welfare policy? Do you sourcing transparency initiatives, including the Le Responsible Wool Standard?”
Ocean Plastic
“Do you have a strategy in place to eliminate plas your supply chain? Do you disclose what you are
Deforestation
“Do you source viscose and man-made cellulose Is your leather supply chain traceable to the raw m
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The more information you ask for, the more brands are pushed to improve their social and environmental policies, and act transparently. We’ve drafted some things you can ask down below.
e women working in your supply chain don’t experience verbal, physical and sexual
tory you source from? Do you require mandatory fire & safety training for the programs or partnerships in place to improve worker health & safety?”
chain earn a living wage rate, as defined bythe Global Living Wage coalition? kers in your supply chain can exercise their right to join a union?”
nd 3rd tier (raw materials) supplier lists to help NGOs and independent dern slavery further down the supply chain?”
o you adhere to the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) commitment?”
nd returned items bought online to landfill? What practices do you have in place ste? What do you do with your offcuts, damaged goods and other supply chain
your own operations and your entire supply chain? Do you have a goal to reduce footprint by 2025? Do you offset your emissions?”
u source mulesing-free wool? Are you signed up to any animal welfare and animal eather Working Group, Responsible Down Standard, Traceable Down Standard or
stics from your packaging? Will you commit to eliminating virgin polyester from doing to reduce microfibre shedding from clothing?”
e materials from sustainably managed forests, through initiatives such as Canopy? material?”
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bigcheese@fashionbrand.com
Who made my clothes?
Dear [brand], I am your customer, and I love your style. However, I am very worried about the impact that the coronavirus is having on the people working in your supply chain. Bloomberg News reports that major fashion brands have cancelled orders worth roughly $1.5 billion across more than 1,000 garment factories in Bangladesh since the start of the outbreak. Elsewhere there are reports of fashion brands cancelling orders and stopping payments for orders already placed. What effect is this having on garment makers who are already paid so little and have no social safety net to fall back on? I understand that this is causing an unprecedented economic crisis and that people like me may be buying fewer clothes right now. But, now is not that time to turn your back on your suppliers and their workers. So, please tell me #WhoMadeMyClothes and what you are doing to honour existing contracts and ensure that the people working in your supply chain are protected and compensated throughout this crisis? Sincerely, [Your name]
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Action: Write an email to your favourite brand. Ask them #WhoMadeMyClothes? #WhatsInMyClothes? Use the templates on this page and the link below to find the email addresses for the CEOs, sustainability managers, and customer service reps of some of the biggest fashion brands.
List of brands’ email addresses
See also: Following up org
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Your voice has power, YOURS YOURS so use it! PRINTPRINT @fash_rev
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Action: Write a postcard to a policy maker. 1)
Find out who your local policymakers are. Look for the members of government who represent your neighbourhood, and find out their public mailing address.
2)
Print and cut out the postcard template through the link shown, and fill in the details. You can print multiple copies and mail them to several public representatives. You can also create your own postcard, with your own message.
3)
Take a photo of your postcard and then pop it in the mail. You can follow up by posting it on social media, and tagging them there too.
4)
When they respond, take a photo of it. Post it on social media and tag @fash_rev so everyone can see what they say. If they don’t respond, try again.
Governments can have a real impact on the lives of the people who make our clothes. Legislators decide minimum wages, mandate working conditions and create laws that protect people and the environment. org
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Action: Bring people together We know that many people in our community take part in Fashion Revolution Week collectively, by attending events and workshops or organising with friends and coworkers. We encourage everyone to stay home and self isolate, but there are still many ways you can engage in group activism: Activity...
Make it digital...
Ask “Who made my clothes?” to a brand with friends.
Try the House Party app. Video call with friends, take action together and make your digital activism a party.
Start a study group with your coworkers.
Pick a Fashion Revolution resource, like our Fashion Transparency Index or White Paper and use Zoom to conduct group discussions.
Kick-off an idea swap and pass it on.
Marco Polo app let’s you send video messages to friends & groups. Use it to swap ideas, or even show friends what you’ll be bringing to The Great Fashion Revolution Clothes Swap in the future.
We’re also planning an exciting lineup of Fashion Revolution Week events that will be live streamed around the world. Check out our events page to register. org
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Other ways to get involved
Host a digital event We’ve created a guide on how to put on your own digital Fashion Revolution Week event or turn your already planned event into something virtual.
Attend a digital event During Fashion Revolution Week (20-26 April), you can attend digital panel discussions, virtual workshops, and webinars. Check out our events page here.
Share your clothing love story Rather than buying new, fall back in love with the clothes you already own. Share your story, or write a love letter about an item of clothing that means a lot to you. Read more here.
Brands & Retailers Brands and retailers can get involved with Fashion Revolution Week by sharing information about their supply chains. Learn how here.
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Try a ‘Haulternative’ Fashion isn’t just about consuming more stuff. Check out our guide of ‘haulternatives’ to change the way we buy, make and use our clothes.
Learn something If you’re a student, or a parent-turned homeschool teacher during quarantine, make use of our free educational resources.
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.
Read up Educate yourself on current issues and get inspired by new ways to help create change here.
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