My presentation “Loved Clothes Last” had about 150 participants keen to know what’s going on behind the fashion labels. I would like to thank everybody once again for coming, listening and asking some tough questions! I was not able to answer all of them properly, so in the following days, I will write couple posts giving further info.
So let’s dig in by reviewing what we found out…
During the presentation, we learnt that our clothes have gone a long way before hitting the shelves in our beloved stores, passing through the hands of farmers, spinners, weavers, dyers, sewers and others.
Approximately 75 million people work to make our clothes. 80 % of them are women between the ages of 18 and 35.* However, half of these people (about 36 million) work in a modern slavery.
This means they usually work in an unsafe environment, don’t get paid the living wage, have to face excessive hours, forced overtime and/ or sexual harassment. These people are being exploited just because we want cheaper clothes and faster production.
We also found out, that the fashion industry is the second dirtiest in the world.
One drop of aldicarb can be lethal, yet it is the second most common insecticide in the cotton farming.
Dying processes involve other toxic chemicals (like formaldehyde, chlorine, lead, mercury,…), which cause health difficulties for the workers. These chemicals are then dumped directly into the rivers and so we are facing the extinction of aquatic life, and contamination of the drinking water, soil and the air in the areas.
Well, we at Discover English are not willing to accept to shop under these terms! And luckily, we are not alone…
Fashion Revolution is a global movement calling for a fairer, safer, cleaner, more transparent fashion industry.*
As citizens and consumers — our questions, our voices, our shopping habits can have the power to help change things for the better.
We are the driver of trends. Every time we buy something, we’re voting with our wallet. When we speak, brands and governments listen.*
So let’s speak up!
*information from the fashionrevolution.org