What does it take to create a shirt you buy at a big fast fashion company? Do you know how much a worker in a garment factory makes a day? These are only a couple of the multitude of questions raised by the Fashion Revolution movement that was created 8 years ago.
Started in 2013, after the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, its goal is to bring transparency and responsibility to the fashion industry. Today, it’s estimated that we buy four times more clothes than forty year ago! This consumerist fast fashion model has transformed the fashion industry into the most damaging industry in the world, both socially and ecologically.
It has to stop!
For our future, for our planet, for the countless lives slaving to make more and more clothes, we have to change our relationship with fashion.
To function, fast fashion needs to become irrelevant quickly so that customers continue buying endlessly. This means an increase in volume made, more and more difficult working conditions for garment workers and poor quality products. To continue on this road leads only to disaster.
We have to start making more informed choices and choose quality over quantity.
The very first condition to buy less clothes and keep the ones we already have longer, is to feel good in our garments. When we do, we don’t want to constantly buy the latest fashion. We know what makes us feel good, what is comfortable and what with that comes a certain power. A wardrobe made of quality clothes that function well together makes for happier, more confident wearer.
I believe that one way to achieve this goal with our wardrobe is to take the power and create our own clothes. It’s definitely not the fastest nor the easiest solution but it’s the most rewarding. This is why Wearologie exists.
So this week, as we remember the tragic event that sparked this revolution, as we wear proudly our handmade garments, as we ask brands to be more accountable and transparent, let us remember that we are taking a step in the right direction.