#FashionRevolution: Time to Trace Fashion by asking Who Made My Clothes?

“Do you know where your blazer was made?” questioned Andrew Olah, founder
of boutique denim trade fair Kingpins at the latest edition in Amsterdam.
“The label on the inside only identifies only the country where it was made
and how to wash it, but there is nothing about who made it. Don’t you think
that’s terrible?” In this digital age of innovative, Olah is not alone in
his opinion that it is time to make a change within the fashion industry.

The Fashion Revolution, a global coalition of designers, academics,
writers, business leaders and parliamentarians have made April 24th, the
anniversary of the deadliest garment factory accident in the history of the
industry, the day for all consumers to stand together for a systemic reform
of the fashion supply chain.

Consumers encouraged to ask retailers Who Made My Clothes?

Last year, on the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, British
co-founders Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro launched ‘the Fashion
Revolution Day’ with the social media campaign #WhoMadeMyClothes, which
called on people around the world to share photographs featuring their
clothing labels. The digital campaign was designed to call for more
transparency in the fashion industry by encouraging consumers to ask
retailers where their clothing is made and by whom.

The Fashion Revolution Day saw tens thousands
of people participating from over 60 countries and this year the coalition
aims to grow bigger with 71 countries joining as well as the launch of a
new initiative, which aims to promote transparency within fashion supply
chains, named Trace My Fashion. The new project aims to track and document
the changes which are occurring within the industry to help bring around a
more substantial improvement in the ready-made-garment (RMG) sector of
Bangladesh, whilst investing in the future.

“Our initial aim is to get the factories and brands to open up to us,”
writes Nawshin Khair, Fashion Revolution country coordinator for
Bangladesh. “It has been two years since the tragic Rana Plaza incident
took place. The incident has been a wake up call for the sector and in
these two years we have seen a complete transformation of the Bangladesh
Apparel Industry.”

Trave My Fashion asks brands to be transparent with supply chains

Today the newly launched platform will share projects created in
partnership with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters
Association University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT). #TraceMyFashion is
an interactive experience, created with fashion and management students at
BUFT, which encourages visitors to scan QR Codes to learn more about the
ethical practices of case study companies such as Living Blue, Beximco
Textiles and Desh Garments.

“The praise of reformation comes directly from the international experts
like the International Labour Organization, the Accord, and Alliance who
have been looking into the inspection of factories. Bangladesh RMG sector
and BGMEA has amended labour laws; initiated relevant trainings, and with
the help of Bangladesh Government, have compensated the victims of Rana
Plaza, and rehabilitated the injured workers and their families. We
encourage the commitment of the brands to provide support through these
changes.”

The ultimate goal of the new initiative is to add the certificates of audit
firms such as the Accord and Alliance to the case companies featured online
to gradually bring around an even higher standard for all RMG garment
workers using ethical practices within the companies standards. “Since the
movement has begun, change is inevitable,” adds Khair.