At the Fashion Summit we all talked about the need of making the necessary change in the fashion industry, but unfortunately it seems most are still ‘sitting on their hands’. Like when Livia Firth founder of Eco-Age presented the simple Fashion Revolution idea INSIDEOUT – where you turn your garment inside out – to honor the people, who made it and to tell the hole story of the supply chain. Her suggestion received the biggest applause, but all kept sitting with their jackets on. Except a few young Brits I meet in the hall after the event. They got the point and showed it off. I’am afraid this is not an isolated case, but sadly enough symptomatic of the industry, which is failing to change, when there is still time. For reasons I can not explain.
The Summit was held at the 24. of April and hereby marked the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, where more than 1,100 people where killed and hereby highlighted the grim conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry, a major supplier to global fashion brands. The disaster of Rana Plaza was articulated again and again doing the Summit. One minute of silence was held, but what will it really take to make this mega industry change? At the Summit it still looked like business as usually and – the show most go on.
Vanessa Friedmann from the Financial Times explained sustainable fashion’s built-in contradiction perfectly fine, when she revealed, that she had to change the topic of her summit talk, because it does not make sense of talk about: Sustainable Fashion. Simply because the term is contradictory. Thanks Vanessa. Spot on. She started her talk by throwing no longer fashionable jeans around on the stage to show what fast-fashion is and does to us. Buy and then throw away and that is not sustainable, and by the way … where is away ?
From Denmark one crown princess and two ministers talked about fashion for change, but who is actually responsible? Who can make this change? In the end of the day, we blame it on the industry, but it also comes down to ME and YOU. So please take a good look in the mirror and don’t worry – if you see the same dress again tomorrow.
Please, lets make the change happen. We need this now and if YOU and I – and our friends stop buying fast-fashion the industry will start to die, and something new will arise. That is the law of change. Please, help make this happen, I have totally lost faith in the fashion industry, afraid maybe it is lack the courage or imagination. Please just do something. Insideout. Stop buying. Wash less. Swap clothes with your friends. Anything – realize we are all part of this mass-industry.
DAFI and all taking part in planing and executing this big event did a great job and the event was framed beautifully in the Wonderful Copenhagen Operaen. Fashion knows how to set the party bar high, now preform on the fashion stage too, please.