VIDEO: Fast fashion has a long history of environmental and social damage

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The death of more than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh five years ago forced consumers to consider the true costs of 'fast fashion'. Yet many garment workers remain poorly paid and badly treated. CATHERINE HARTE reports on a new film that hopes to make us stop and think about the people who make our clothes

The film brings to life the stories and struggles still faced by millions of people across the globe working in the fashion supply chain. 

Who made my clothes? Directed by MJ Delaney

A new film by director MJ Delaney explores the struggles still faced by the people who make our clothes - five years following the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh in which more than a thousand people perished after the building housing several garment factories collapsed.

The film has been released to coincide with Fashion Revolution Week and fuses the stories of the invisible people who make our clothes around the world with mixed dance inspired by different cultures to raise awareness of the complex nature of the fashion industry.

Openness and dialogue

Its potent message demands a fair, safe and more transparent industry, and gives the viewer agency by showing how they can start a fashion revolution by asking brands one question: #whomademyclothes?

The campaign film aims to connect a young, global, fashion-loving audience to the people that make up the fashion supply chain. It seeks to inspire viewers to do something about it through downloading resources, online tools and workshops to take action writing to their favourite brands.

Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, said: “Fashion Revolution is a positive, inclusive, pro-fashion campaign. We focus on solutions while shining a light on the complexities and the inequalities of the fashion supply chain, without naming and shaming brands but encouraging transparency, openness and dialogue.

We ask our audience to be curious, find out, and do something, encouraging scrutiny and vigilance via enthusiasm as opposed to guilt."

This Author

Catherine Harte is a contributing editor of The Ecologist.

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