Fashion Revolution Week: Eight, really? It's Been Eight Years Ago...

I don't know what to write today, on the anniversary of the building collapse in Bangladesh that killed over a thousand innocent people and injured another twenty-five hundred. I don't know what to write because when I reflect back, I fear that very little has changed.  This is what I wrote back then

I've been [...] watching the news channel talk about the sewing factory collapse in India. It is heart breaking to say the least. Words can not explain how painful it is to watch the news coverage, again. Is it me or does it seem that there are a lot of fires or building collapses in that part of the world's garment industry?

Some people in the media are blaming the shopping attitudes of North America for the tragedies that have been occurring in the East surrounding the billion dollar garment industry. North Americans, they argue, want cheap fashions forcing India and China to compete with cheap labour. Then there is another segment that blames the owners of the factory that ordered the workers back to work even though the building was deemed unsafe. Everyone is blaming everyone! But no one is offering any solutions. Some people want to boycott Joe Fresh one of the Canadian garment lines whose labels were found at the collapse building site. Where others are pleading with North American shoppers to not boycott the garment manufactures because they bring much needed work to the region.

Tonight on the local news station they asked a poll question and when I went to check the result, it made me even more sad.

CTV Winnipeg Web Poll - April 26, 2013

Would you pay extra to buy clothes made in fair trade factories?

Yes		177	(53 %)
No		154	(47 %)

Total number of votes: 331

I would have thought that the "yes" response would have been much higher considering the heart-breaking images that have been on the news. But I don't know why I am surprised. As a person who sews, I am often asked to sew for others who are ignorant of the time and work that goes into sewing something because they have been conditioned to paying such low prices. Of course consumers are often getting low quality as many fast fashions are simplified in style and technique.

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I am often saddened when "home economics" classes were taken to a new direction since I was in junior and high school.

It seems that if a school offers home economics now-a-days the sewing component of home economic classes is pushed to the sidelines as cooking and finances take centre stage. I don't feel that one component is more important than the other rather they are equally important.

I often wonder if there was a greater focus on the sewing component of home economics maybe, just maybe we could educate a future consumer that has an appreciation for the work and skill that goes into creating a garment. Sewing a garment is not just about making something, it is also involves math and communication skills and lessons on aesthetics and ethics.

Even if a student does not continue onto a career that involves sewing or sews their own wardrobe, they would develop skills to help them make more ethical and informed consumer decisions about quality fashion and the work involved in creating such items.

I wonder if the lack of sewing skills currently taught in school contribute to the callous way we think about fashion. This is such a complicated issue. What can we as consumers do? How can consumers be sure that the products they purchase are ethically made in safe working conditions? There are so many questions that arise in yet another tragedy. I pray for those who have lost their lives and who are exploited in horrified working conditions and that cultural attitudes towards fast-fashion change. There has been way too many deaths and injuries in the name of cheap fashion, way too many.

The Fire and Building Safety Accord in Bangladesh, signed after the building collapse, is set to expire at the end of next month. Not one clothing brand that had signed the accord has stepped up to re-sign the agreement. Although, Canadian clothing purchasing habits declined and changed during the pandemic, overseas garment workers continue to pay the price. 

Clothing brands are not stepping up and honoring their purchase orders and someone along the line will have to pay for it.  

When global brands do not honor their purchase agreements, it is the garment workers who are once again punished.  Someone always pays when it comes to cheap fast-fashion. This hasn't changed in the eight years since the Rana Plaza tragedy.  

The pandemic has monopolized  media coverage on the local news this year. If it weren't for the social media coverage from #FahionRevolution this issue would have quietly faded to the background this year.  

#FashionRevolution still has an important role in bringing awareness to issues that are still relevant today as it was eight years ago. And perhaps the pandemic might just shed some more awareness on social justice issues that remain in the fashion industry.