Carry Somers’ revolution
Carry Somers’revolution
The first day of Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 fully meets expectations. The debate begins immediately with the interview with Carry Somers, co-founder of Fashion Revolution.
Fashion Revolution is a movement of designers, producers, artisans, workers and consumers who want to be promoters of a more sustainable fashion system for the environment and for society, taking into consideration the working conditions along the production chain. The collective was born as a response to the disaster caused by the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Savar (Bangladesh). [Note 1]
“We love fashion, but we don’t want our clothes to exploit people or destroy the planet. We are asking for a radical and revolutionary change. ”- says the group’s manifesto.
Since 2013 Fashion Revolution has taken numerous steps towards sustainable fashion, through the launch of awareness campaigns. At Fashinnovation Carry Somers presents the next initiatives:
- What’s in my clothes?campaign
- Fashion Open Studio 2020
- Fashion Transparency Index 2020
Let’s see them together from last to first.
Fashion Transparency Index 2020 is the result of an analysis of 250 of the most important brands and distributors in the fashion sector, classified according to how much they share their strategies, activities and impact on society and the environment with consumers. Particular attention is paid to their impact on workers.
“There is a noticeable difference between what companies declare as their strategic commitment and the activities they put into practice to meet these objectives” – says Carry. For this reason, the brands included in the index are involved to verify the data of the Fashion Transparency Index, besides analyzes and research are carried out by external researchers to validate the data received.
Fashion Open Studio 2020 is a festival, launched in 2017, which includes presentations, conferences, workshops with emerging and established designers, fashion industry professionals who tell the processes and people who make their creations possible. The 2020 edition, which Fashion Revolution has transformed into a digital event, will be focused on designers whose work best reflects the ideals of sustainability and will take place from 20 to 26 April.
What’s in my clothes? is a campaign to make general public and actors of the fashion system aware of the materials with which fashion creations are made and the substances they can release into the environment.
Collaborate to grow together
Carry Somers’ research is truly fascinating, the initiative that I find of particular interest is the transparency index and the choice to carry it out in collaboration with fashion brands, because in my opinion I believe that the theme of sustainability and respect for workers must be addressed by promoting the creation of synergic collaborations between entrepreneurs, suppliers, professionals and final consumers, promoting dialogue. It is essential to mediate the needs that emerge from all stakeholders involved and collectively commit to growing together.
Other articles about Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020:
>>> My fist day at Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020
>>> Aquafil: a company where economy is truly circular
FOOTNOTES
[1] The collapse of the Rana Plaza was a structural failure on 24 April 2013, when an eight-story commercial building collapsed in Savar, a sub-district in the Greater Area of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. […] It is considered the most serious fatal accident occurred in a textile factory in history, as well as the most lethal accidental structural failure in modern human history. Credits wikipedia https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crollo_del_Rana_Plaza_di_Savar
IMAGES
[image 1] Graphic elaboration created by Maddalena Mometti that portrays Carry Somers, co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement https://www.fashionrevolution.org, credits Dvora Photography e Fashion Revolution