Fashion Revolution Week

Fashion Revolution Week is this week. It starts today (which is also Earth Day).

It also takes in the 24th of April - the 13th anniversary of the collapse of Rana Plaza.

CONSCIOUS FASHION IS A COLLECTIVE MISSION

This year, our campaign aims to re-ignite hope. With over eleven years of campaigning, the revolution needs the collective more than ever.

We are all accountable, but we are tired: tired of claims that are misleading, of leaders’ promises that lead us to nowhere, of information overload. We are all together in this collective mission – for a clean, fair, safe, transparent and ethical fashion industry, and that brings hope.

We want this year’s Fashion Revolution Week to reclaim the collective: standing united as one voice. As a movement we’re going back to our roots, and we’re asking fashion revolutionaries to do the same. Seek connection, ask questions, and take to the streets – for both a better fashion industry and for future generations that follow in our footsteps.

Check out the resources and research reports and do something fashion related with students. 

It's a perfect example of Everyday Geographies in action.

Rana Plaza - ten years on

Regular readers will know that I have been involved with the work of the Follow the Things project for some time now.

This is a project based at Exeter University, which started with the work of Professor Ian Cook, exploring global supply chains, trade justice and the stories of the things that we own and consume.

One of the associated projects that explores this area is Fashion Revolution Day.

We are approaching the tenth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy on Monday and a pack of materials has been produced to help teachers and students think through its significance and the wider question of 'who made my clothes?' 

The education materials can be seen and downloaded at this page.

There are also Top Trumps cards to be made as part of the activity, exploring the impact of globalisation.
Ian Cook writes about using the cards here. Make sure that you are using the most up to date Transparency Index.

We will be using the materials at my school with Year 8 in some format and marking the tenth anniversary of Rana Plaza.

Rana Plaza trial about to start

In 2013, when I joined King's Ely, I introduced a unit drawing on the work of Fashion Revolution: an organisation that started on the day of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh in April 2013.

The owner of the factory fled after the collapse, and was eventually arrested but actually charged initially with tax offenses rather than mass murder...

The Rana Plaza collapse was one of several similar incidents, some including fires rather than collapses, and people trapped by poor attention to health and safety.

Ian Cook et al completed some work exploring the lead up to the collapse, using LEGO reconstructions.

A few weeks ago, someone tweeted from the Dhaka Tribune that the murder trial is finally going to get underway and over 500 witnesses are going to be called.

Getting closer to Fashion Revolution Day

Activism here of the style that we were discussing...
Via Clean Clothes Campaign

Unfair Factory and Fashion Revolution

Using the classic Unfair Factory game to explore some 'realities' of sweatshops through games.
Also try the very similar Sim Sweatshop game, which avoids the need to sew.

Fashion Revolution's transparency index is another resource we have used.

Fashion Revolution Fanzine #3

Just ordered my copy of the 3rd Fashion Revolution fanzine.
I use the first one as a key teaching resource, with its fashion diaries.
This one looks rather useful - here's the description.

On 28th August, Fashion Revolution is launching the third in a series of its bi-annual collectable fanzines which seek to uncover the stories behind the clothing we wear. Pre-order your copy below.

FASHION, ENVIRONMENT, CHANGE is an A -Z of the fashion industry’s thorny relationship with greenhouse gases, ocean plastics, and textile pollution, from the Anthropocene to Generation Z. In order to make change, we need to understand the problems and find creative ways to change systems and human behaviour.

The Graphic Design students of Central Saint Martins have created thought-provoking illustrations and visuals to give a fresh perspective on the carbon footprint of a pair of jeans; the corrosive pollution created by the textile factories of Erode in India; and why shoe and bag brands need to get to know their tanneries.

A team of experts, writers, poets and campaigners examine how fashion can lessen its impact on the planet for future generations. Contributors include Dilys Williams, Linda Greer, Wilson Oryema, Orsola de Castro, Scarlett Conlon, Jake Hall, Tamsin Blanchard, Carry Somers, Sarah Ditty, Fleur Britten, Matthew Neadham and Arizona Muse.

The proceeds of this non-profit fanzine will go towards creating more inspiring and informative resources like this zine in the future and helping to grow the Fashion Revolution movement.

It costs £9 plus p&p, and you can order it now...

This week, Year 8 will mostly be exploring...

Click to download the 2018 Transparency report as a PDF

Fashion Revolution week is next week....

We will be taking part in this event as we have done for the last five years.

A guide to taking part can be downloaded as a PDF by following this link.