Turning my clothes inside out and travelling from one side of London to the other — Fashion Revolution Day has arrived. Selfies on instagram and tweets of our clothing (#Insideout) have taken over all across the world. Bangladesh, China, Swaziland and Brazil are just a few of the countries partaking in the day of activism tabbed under a day for Revolution. Generations of consumers are asking ‘Who made our clothes?’ — re-connecting the thread all of our clothes travel, by re-engaging us with are garments and the labels that sit on their backs.
I remember two years ago today when news emerged of the deadly collapse of Rana Plaza, a collapse which drew the world’s attention reminding us that there are real people behind our clothing, real people with real families, who all felt their loss.
The grounds upon which the eight story commercial building collapsed were swampy and the cracks on its walls were large. Garment workers were forced to go back to work knowing that this building was unsafe. But this is the world of garment workers, the result of greed, corruption, injustice and rampant consumerism and to those working in the industry, the collapse wasn’t a surprise.