Utopia
After Covid-19, will the industry actually change?
Collage by Mohanad Shuraideh
This free monthly public post is yours to enjoy, but if you’re hungry for more, subscribe for a weekly deep dive for just £5 a month/£50 a year. It helps support my work and offers you bucketloads of value.
Fashion is in flux. As fashion’s gatekeepers, its power structures, and those that rely on them gasp for breath, we’re seeing small tremors of revolution. Gucci have shaken up the fashion calendar by going ‘seasonless’. Dozens of luxury houses have signed the Rewiring Fashion pledge to reimagine fashion weeks, and influential designers worldwide are signing open letters and manifestos for change. The BFC and the CFDA have called for an industry reset, suggesting creativity is quashed by the constant need to deliver new collections. Runway shows and campaigns are thriving in the digital landscape. Even fashion’s matriarch Anna Wintour is urging the industry to ‘slow down, produce less’.
Before we get lost in this glorious utopia, remember that injustice hasn’t stopped for the virus (and won’t, until greed and growth do). As I’m sure you’re aware, the most vulnerable workers in the the fashion supply chain are squeezed the tightest in times of unrest. If the powerlessness you feel against the powers that be (just me?) is keeping you up at night, here are some ways you can directly and actively help. Sign Remake’s #PayUp petition and tag brands on social media (commenting on the brands own Instagram posts is a firm favourite) to get them to reimburse factories for cancelled orders. It works. You can also join over 50,000 others in ordering a £35 box of unsold clothing from Lost Stock to support garment workers in Bangladesh. These are imperfect short-term actions, band aids over the systematic flaws in the fashion industry. But if it saves the family of a garment worker from literally starving to death, it’s worth it.
The UK government just announced that non-essential shops in England can reopen on 15th June. Before I launch into a rant about the absurdity of buying Primark dresses and Ford Fiestas before we can even hug our parents, let me leave you with this thought. Retail workers, I feel for you, I’ve been there, and the people who are meant to protect you are putting your lives at risk. But I am most concerned about another tier of the supply chain, hidden away, but suffering in plain sight. What happens, I wonder, when they get sick?
NEWSFLASH!
The most important ethical fashion headlines to catch up on this month.
A Cambodian Garment worker was jailed for standing up to her employer
Fashion magazines are urged to avoid trend-led language like ‘must have’
Retail billionaire Phillip Day owes a Bangladesh supplier £27million
Boohoo is breaking social distancing rules to shoot new products
Fashion brands are making PPE but not providing it for garment workers
Fashion’s sustainability certifications and coalitions aren’t working
ARE YOU LISTENING?
New podcast episodes to fill your ears with conscious conversation
Wardrobe Crisis | Fashion & Biodiversity with Kering's Helen Crowley
Business of Fashion | Kalpona Akter on Choosing Between Lives and Livelihood
Newbies: Ecocurious by Julia Day and Ethical Conversations by Jess Rigg
Pssst…. I’m launching a podcast! Alongside my co-host Alice Cruickshank I’m delighted to finally be able to share Common Threads with you on Monday 1st June. Follow us on Instagram for updates.
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
I did a little happy dance this month as I was published in Eco Age! I wrote an article about the environmental impact of our online shopping sprees in lockdown, and explored the potential long-term impacts of shifting away from brick-and-mortar retail with a little help from GreenStory, the researchers who compiled ThredUp’s fashion footprint calculator. Read the piece here.
In other news, I’ve also joined Eco Warrior Princess as a contributing writer. My latest articles include: Will Garment Workers Survive the Fast Fashion Apocalypse? and Why It’s OK to Be Imperfectly Ethical in Pandemic Lockdown
SUSTAINABLE FASHION BRAND OF THE MONTH
I discovered Osei-Duro from Aja Barber’s Patreon. They make the most stunning hand-dyed clothing, supporting traditional textile communities in West Africa. I have this gorgeous jumpsuit on my wishlist.
Thank you so much for reading! Follow me on Instagram and Twitter for bad selfies and political rants, and become a paid subscriber for more Ethical Fashion Roundup goodness.
See you next month,
Ruth x