The "Who Made My Clothes" Movement

Fashion Revolution is an international cooperation of designers, academics, writers, entrepreneurs and politicians who plead for a transition within the development of clothing. In other words, all processes needed to manufacture, transport and sell clothing must be changed, drastically. 

Where are most textiles produced?

At present, more than 60% of world clothing exports are manufactured in developing countries. Asia is the major world supplier today, producing more than 32% of the world's clothing exports. Since the laws are more ‘flexible’ in those countries, they do not always have to comply with them. Resulting in paying lower wages, as well as not having to comply with specific work environment regulations  in the Western World. Besides what people may understand of the importance of machinery, each and every garment you see is made by hand-made, with the help of low quality/technology sewing machines, by low paid garment workers. 

The Rana Plaza Disaster

On the 24th of April in 2013, a building named ‘Rana Plaza’ collapsed in Bangladesh, because they were building two extra floors on top of it, illegally. 

The disaster caused 1133 people’s death and 2500 wounded, and there are still 200 people missing. These people lost their lives, because their employers retailers were unwilling to invest in safe and healthy work environments. The real tragedy is that this loss of life could probably have been avoided if the workers had been evacuated in time. More than a day before the disaster, the cracks in the building were already clearly visible.

It became clear that urgent action was needed to tackle these unsafe factories and improve the employment situation of the millions of garment workers in Bangladesh - and of course other garment-producing countries such as China, India and Cambodia.

As a counter-reaction to the indifference of these companies, the ‘Fashion Revolution Day’ was founded.

Lest we forget

To ensure that we never forget such disasters as Rana Plaza, Fashion Revolution set up the campaign ‘’Who made my clothes?’’. This campaign wants to make change in the fashion industry, by making consumers more conscious of where their clothing comes from, and more importantly: who made them. 

If consumers become more aware of the conditions their clothes are made in, brands and designers are pushed to be more transparent, and as consumers, we can demand that  that clothing is not manufactured at the expense of human rights.

If you have been reading and buying sustainable fashion, chances are big you have spotted pictures of workers holding cardboard saying ‘I made your clothes’ in social media. Meaning: the 8 years of campaigning have shown off! These posts have mostly been created by brands, who are now ensuring that their  garments are made in healthy working conditions with a fair living wage. 

However, until brands responsible for the disaster, will place people above profit, the exploitation of workers in developing countries will continue. 

The reason for this is because factory owners know that if they refuse an offer, the brand will go to another factory which does accept the lower price. Therefore, they have to take the offer to provide income for their workers. 

To overcome this, brands should build long-term partnerships with factories, and invest in the maintenance, health and safety of the buildings and their workers.

How does Kleiderly contribute?

Besides producing plastic out of textile waste, Kleiderly contributes in the movement of sustainable fashion and spreading awareness by educating consumers and businesses in the form of blog posts, podcasts and speaking at events and universities.

Sources

https://fashioninsiders.co/features/inspiration/who-made-my-clothes-movement/

https://www.fashionrevolution.org/manifesto/
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_008075/lang--en/index.htm