Fashion revolution week starts today.

What is it? Fashion Revolution Week and the #whomademyclothes hashtag campaign runs in April around the same time as the Rana Plaza factory collapse happened in 2013. The event is more than commemorative, it is designed to raise awareness about who makes our clothes, calling on us – consumers – to ask for greater transparency from our fashion retailers.

The factory in Bangladesh made worldwide news when its collapse killed more than 1,130 workers but, more importantly, it also spurred the industry to make changes. As a result global fashion brands and retailers and trade unions are working together to build a safe Bangladeshi ready made garment industry.  There is still a lot of work to be done however, as I always feel, something is better than nothing.

Fashion Revolution Week is about so much more than the terrible event. It is gaining incredible movement globally as the week to raise awareness and ask who made our clothes. As they say:

“Much of the global fashion industry is opaque, exploitative and environmentally damaging and desperately needs revolutionary change. We love fashion, but we don’t want our clothes to come at the cost of people or our planet.”

That’s how I feel, and I put my support behind them.

Who made your clothes? Maybe for this week or this year, I challenge you to look at one item you love in your wardrobe and try to find information about who made it. If you can’t immediately find the information, contact the brand and ask. The more we ask, the more fashion brands will understand our desire for transparency! GOOD LUCK!!

If you’re wondering who made my dress shirt – It was made in Jiangmen, China for Everlane. It’s been really disappointing actually for me because I read several blogs telling me Everlane was this amazing ethical brand. Their website certainly showed vast transparency of where their clothing was made. But actually, they are not as ethical as I would like my clothes to be. Yes, Everlane are transparent, but this doesn’t automatically mean ethical. At the time of checking, Everlane wasn’t on the GOODonYOU app, but now when I check it, it says its ‘not good enough’ (booo).

My mission for fashion revolution week is to try to change that!!