#whomademyclothes?

On 24th April 2015 it will be two years since the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh, where horrifically over 1100 people were killed and 2500 injured. The building was home to factories that were making clothes for the UK high street, for well-known brands such as Primark, Matalan, Mango and Gap. But who is to blame for this tragedy? Is it the namesake of the building, the owner Rana himself? The Bangladesh government who didn’t enforce health and safety legislation?  Is it the fault of the fashion brands themselves? Or how about the suppliers of the brands who had the direct relationship with the factories?

It’s easy to point the finger at the fashion brands as they are big faceless corporations, capitalism personified. They haven’t helped themselves either, it’s been reported that the Italian owned brand Benetton, has taken nearly two years to give to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund which gives compensation to those suffering from this tragedy. Though interestingly, it is not so widely reported that the $1.1 million they donated was over double the amount recommended by independent assessors. Not that it goes any way to exonerating them of any responsibility.

But what about the consumer? Where does our responsibility lie? I speak for myself when I write that we all buy clothes often without a moments thought about who stitched on the buttons, where they live, how they live, or what their quality of life is? Yes we might decide to boycott Primark, querying how they can afford to make clothes so cheaply. But the reality is that we hate their queues and perceive their clothes to be of poor quality. In theory I’d love to buy all fairly traded clothes, knowing that the people making them received a fair wage for their work. Again the reality is somewhat different, I don’t like the designs of most fairly traded clothes and my need to do good doesn’t out do my wish to look good, so does that make me selfish? Vain? Probably both.

Fashion Revolution is a “global coalition of designers, academics, writers, business leaders and parliamentarians calling for systemic reform of the fashion supply chain.” Their mission is for ” ………a fashion industry that values people, the environment, creativity and profit in equal measure.” They are calling us on 24th April to ask the retailer the question via social media #whomademyclothes? The idea is to:

My family and I have our photos ready to challenge @Topshop (N4Mummy), @Gant (Grandad), @Boden (Grandma) and @Next (Daisy)I don’t believe a hashtag is going to change the way the fashion industry does business, but it has certainly made me think about #whomademyclothes and it will undoubtedly raise awareness, that has got to be a start.

Are you going to ask #whomademyclothes?

Quotes by Fashion Revolution are taken from their website www.fashionrevolution.org