What is Fashion Revolution week?

It falls in April every year. It’s the week in which fashion designers, producers and sellers hashtag whomademyclothes (#whomademyclothes) to campaign for ethical and sustainable transparency in the process of making clothes.

When did it start?

24th April 2013. The day when the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1138 people and injuring 2,500 more. That morning the garment producers that worked there begged to not go inside.The severely cracked, structurally compromised factory collapsed around 9am in 90 seconds. It became the fourth largest industrial disaster in history.

Although it’s unclear which brands were producing garments from the factory at the time, some well known global brands - that we all may well have worn - had been known to use the factory.

Hashtag imadeyourclothes (#imadeyourclothes) is now used during each Fashion Revolution Week so brands and producers can be open about their supply chain, to highlight the workers, their conditions, and the origins of a garment.

Why is Fashion Revolution more than just a week?

Because the spotlight the movement has turned on to this process can never go off. To ensure continuous safe and fair working conditions for producers, and to ensure that the people who produce clothes, the environment and profit are all valued equally.

www.fashionrevolution.org is a global movement that runs all year round, helping those within the industry to recognise that they have the power to make positive changes. The website is an excellent resource. Visit to discover how transparent the 200 biggest fashion brands really are, for garment worker diaries and The Fashion Revolutionary booklet.

Because we all need to be conscious consumers, aware of the processes the clothing and accessories we buy have gone through before they reach us. To ensure safe and ethical working conditions for those who make them, and to ensure the environment is protected during the process.

Who gets involved?

3.25 million people participated in Fashion Revolution week in 2018. But, perhaps a more revealing measure of its success is the number of businesses striving for transparency, with brands from David Jones to Marks and Spencer committed to ethical sourcing and including details of where their garments are produced on their websites.

These big name brands following the lead of some of our favourite transparent brands like Everlane https://www.everlane.com - check out their transparent pricing information and details of the factories used to create their range. And, our transparent hero’s Outland Denim https://www.outlanddenim.com.au/page/our-story/ who not only source environmentally sound raw materials, but empower their seamstresses - women rescued from human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and other human rights abuses - by providing a job, thorough work-place training, and life skills education. Visit their website for more information. Inspirational examples which we hope to follow.

Who made our bags?

When launching The OTHER Bag ethical production and sustainable design was at the very core of our brand vision. We searched for partners who reflect our vision and we found them in our fabric partners. All our fabrics are blue-sign certified, an international standard which means harmful substances are removed from the production process and that what is produced is done so in an environmentally friendly way without health risk to workers or consumers.

In making our bags, we found a manufacturer with a genuine interest in their workers welfare. Our factory in Qingdao, Shandong, China is certified to meet international labour and ethical standards through the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) a business-driven initiative for companies committed to improving working conditions in the global supply chain.

Many hands touch our bags along their journey. They include:

Ruzica, one of the amazing team at Aquafil, that miraculously turn ghost fishing nets and nylon waste into ECONYL® yarn. “It is unbelievable to see that ECONYL® comes from waste but it performs the same way as standard nylon,” she says of the process she sees for us in her position in charge of quality control at the ECONYL® plant.

In Taiwan, where our CYCLEPET® fabric is made, we are lucky to have Henry, who has been part of the team there for six years. He works on the calendering machines that smooth and thin fabrics as they are passed between rollers at high temperatures and pressures.

Min Li, one of the talented seamstresses who sews our bags at our factory in Qingdao, China. She has worked there for two years.

For more sustainable news, eco lifestyle tips, and 10% off our product range, sign up to our newsletter at https://theother-bag.com/

For more information on Fashion Revolution and sustainable and ethical production and to contact those mentioned in this post please please visit:

www.fashionrevolution.org

www.econyl.com

http://www.realsalefirst.com/

www.davidjones.com/gbj/ethical-sourcing

https://interactivemap.marksandspencer.com/

https://www.everlane.com

https://www.outlanddenim.com.au