Raising Awareness: 'Fashion Revolution' rises from the rubble of a disaster
Everybody loves fashion. Even those who claim not to care have no choice but to wear clothes. Yet more often than not, the faces of the people who make our clothes, unless they're famous designers, are unknown to us.Two years ago in Bangladesh, 1133 of those anonymous workers lost their lives when Rana Plaza, which housed a dozen clothing manufacturing companies, collapsed.Out of the rubble was born the Fashion Revolution movement, created to raise awareness of the industry's most pressing problems. Tomorrow, exactly two years after the Rana Plaza disaster, is Fashion Revolution Day."It's an opportunity to celebrate fashion as a positive influence," says Tammy Nicol, who heads the South African chapter of the Fashion Revolution movement. Nicol and her team are working with designers, lecturers, textile developers and bloggers to create awareness."We've worked closely with various fashion forums, especially the Cape Town Fashion Council, hosting workshops to provide a platform for discussion and disseminate information on sustainable fashion with the help of industry guest speakers."These events are open to industry representatives and provide a space to meet and discuss the role of fashion - specifically ethical fashion, what's already being done and what the word 'sustainable' means in the South African context," says Nicol.The #WhoMadeMyClothes hashtag was created to spark an online conversation in an effort to move the industry's least visible into the public's consciousness. In the local context this means that the thousands who work in an industry notorious for low wages will be given a voice."We're aware that there are unethical clothing factories in South Africa, mostly in KZN. Some garment manufacturing factories pay their workers below the minimum wage and have them working illegal hours," says Nicol.Among several projects in the works, the Fashion Revolution team will be screening a documentary which investigates the Western Cape textile industry.Visit fashionrevolution.org and follow @FashRev_SAfrica for more information..
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