Fashion Revolution Week 2017 – Ask Your Favorite Brands #whomademyclothes?

Fashion Revolution Week 2017 is here! 

You may or may not remember me writing about this week last year, but Fashion Revolution was started after the tragedy of the Rana Plaza complex collapse disaster in 2013 where over 1,110 garment factory workers were killed. It brought to light so much of what is wrong about the fashion industry and thus, a Fashion Revolution was started.

You guys know my passion for ethical fashion. While I am FAR from perfect and I don’t claim to get this right all the time, I have become so passionate about sharing information with people because, as the cliche goes, knowledge is power. The fact is, most consumers just aren’t aware of the harsh realities of the fashion industry and how damaging it can be to not only the environment, but to people.

A real person with a real name makes EVERYTHING we buy. The shirt on your back and the pants on your legs were sewn by a human being. But do you know if that human was paid fairly? Treated with dignity? Worked in a safe environment? Provided opportunity? Or was the person that made that shirt coerced or forced into working long hours? Were they treated unfairly? Were they working in unsafe conditions? Was that person a child? 

The fact is, there’s no such thing as “cheap” fashion. You may have only paid $4 for that shirt or $8 for that dress, but someone somewhere else paid for it.

My goal in sharing all of this and talking about this on the blog is because I just want to educate people to be smart with their buying. I want people to purchase with purpose. It’s not about completely overhauling overnight… it’s about making little changes here and there because they do add up. I don’t ever want to make anyone feel bad or guilty… I just want you to empowered to make smarter and better choices!

You vote every single day by the way you spend your money. So, how are you spending your money? 

Pictured below is one of the women at the sewing center in Nepal who makes the clothing for Elegantees, one of my favorite ethical fashion brands! What’s even cooler is she is actually, quite literally, making my clothes in this picture. She’s sewing pieces from my clothing line! How awesome is that? Don’t forget, the line launches NEXT WEEK on May 4th!! AHH!!

So, you want to make a difference? Want to now what you can do? Here are a few things YOU can do this week during Fashion Revolution Week 2017… 

1. Write a letter or email to your favorite brand.

Brands are listening and they are hearing you… you just have to speak up. So send them a letter or shoot them an email. It takes only a couple minutes, but makes a huge impact. It can say something like this:

Dear [INSERT BRAND HERE],

I am your customer, and I love your style. But I want to know more. I want to know #whomademyclothes.

I want to feel as good about the story behind my clothes as they make me feel when I wear them. I care deeply about the people who have worked so hard to make the things I buy from you. I want to know that they’re being treated fairly, have the freedom to speak out, and are paid enough to live with dignity, opportunity, comfort and hope.

So tell me, what are you doing to ensure that the people who make your clothes are being paid a living wage?

Sincerely,

2. Send a Tweet to your favorite brand asking them #whomademyclothes?

Here is an example of a Tweet you can send… (in fact, you can click it below and it will open up a new Tweet for you!):

[tweetable alt=””]Hey, @BRANDNAMEHERE, I love your style, but I want to know more. I want to know #whomademyclothes? @Fash_Rev #fashionrevolution[/tweetable]

3. Take a picture of your clothing label and post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other social media network and ask brands #whomademyclothes?

4. Send a postcard to a policymaker.

Your legislators and policymakers are the ones that make the decisions that can really impact the fashion industry. Whether you realize it or not, they hear you when you reach out to them. (Whether or not they listen is another story…), but the reality is, the more people that contact lawmakers, the harder it will be to ignore. You can download a free postcard and print it off here.

5. Fall in love with your closet again. 

Don’t go shopping… instead, go shopping in your own closet. Dig out old pieces from the back of your closet or the depths of your drawers and fall in love with them all over again.

So, what are you going to do? Share with us in the comments!!