Fashion Revolution Day 24.04.2014:International day of action aiming to change the fashion industry

The action day that has been created in memorial to the Rana Plaza tragedy in Dhaka, Bangladesh encourages people to start asking 'who made my clothes?'. Fashion Revolution Day has been initiated to create human connections throughout the supply chain. It focuses not only on the textile industry in Asia but also on cotton producers in other regions e.g. in Africa.

Under the slogan ,"Who made your clothes?" we do not only approach the catastrophic working conditions in the producing countries. We simoultaneously want to show alternatives and positive examples. Because we know that fashion can also be produced in accordance with human beings and nature,“ explains Carina Bischof, Upcycling Fashion Store Berlin and member of the German committee of Fashion Revolution Day. For the first Fashion Revolution Day, people worldwide are asked to wear their clothes inside out in order to change the way they look at the clothes they wear.

Who made your clothes? Be curious. Find out. Do something about it. #insideout

http://fashionrevolution.org/get-involved/

GET INVOLVED:BE CURIOUS

We need to become more curious about how our clothes are made and who made them. 

Look at the labels on your clothes. Where is it from? Who made it?

FIND OUT

Get in contact with brands and ask them ‘Who Made Your Clothes‘, to discover the real people throughout the supply chain. 

DO SOMETHING

We want hundreds of thousands of people to take part! Together we can use the power of fashion to catalyse change and reconnect the broken links in the supply chain. In order to raise awareness within the fashion industry and beyond, we want to encourage them to continue to try and make things better.

Watch this moving film of Muhmuda who was working in #RanaPlaza on 24th April the day the factory collapsed.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/apr/bangladesh-shirt-on-your-back

Organic Cotton & Ethical Shopping

Today went Sunday Shopping,but buying consciously aka looking for Organic-Natural-Fair Trade items-is no piece of cake, specially on the largest shopping mall of the Iberian Peninsula,The Centro Comercial Colombo!

But somehow i seemed to manage:i bought a Blue  Organic Cotton Sweater from Zara;an Organic Cotton Black dotted Tshirt from the L.O.G.G Label ( the H&m casual line in wich almost all its apparel,are Cotton Organic) and finally the Organic Bourjois Bio Détox Fondation.

H&m,Zara and C&A are Top Organic Cotton Users http://www.ecouterre.com/hm-still-worlds-no-1-buyer-of-organic-cotton/,but unfortunately, except for the annual Spring/Summer H&M Conscious Collection...

...there aren´t many apparel variety to choose from...since the Summer Conscious Collection was now over,i had to choose between a blue,white or a brown basic sweater and a beautiful, non organic cotton. envelope Jacket...,the choice wasnt easy but in  the end,i choose the organic,afcourse!Off with the vanity!

The veredict?i love my new blue comfy organic sweater and iam quite happy for my conscious and ecological choice!

BUT ethical doesnt mean you have to look boring!Besides this basic organic sweaters you may commonly find in this popular brands,you can also look for quite fashionable ethical apparel online,check some of my favorites on the end of this post!

'Conventional' cotton DIRTY FACTS

Cotton is considered the world's 'dirtiest' crop due to its heavy use of insecticides, the most hazardous pesticide to human and animal health. 

The pesticides used on 'conventional' cotton increasingly threaten people, wildlife and the environment. Most pesticides were originally developed as toxic nerve agents during WWII and it is no wonder they have been linked to many forms of cancers. 

Conventionally-grown cotton occupies only 3% of the world's farmland, but uses 25% of the world's chemical pesticides.

WHY is Organic Cotton better?

Organic cotton items are fashionable, durable, and healthier for your family. The greenest companies make organic cotton clothes without toxic chemical bleaches and finishers.

Choosing Organic also protect workers and communities by keeping thousands of tons of harmful pesticides out of the air, soil, and water!

So,give organic cotton a try  for yourself and our environment!

You can try to start buying more organic cotton little by little – I started in my own home by buying pillowcases, washcloths, and t-shirts. Many familiar companies and stores now carry organic cotton products, and there is a range of prices, making it a reachable goal for everyone’s budget:

GAP

Levi’s

Bed, Bath and Beyond

Patagonia

Nike

LL Bean

H & M

The Organic Cotton Directory  http://www.organiccottondirectory.net/  is a great resource for finding organic cotton products in whichever country you live.

For a list of online sources for Organic Cotton clothing, see:

http://www.eartheasy.com/wear_orgcot_clo.htm

You can learn more about organic cotton at:

USDA - http://www.usda.gov

Sustainable Cotton Project - http://www.sustainablecotton.org/

The Organic Trade Association – http://www.ota.com/index.html

Perfect combination would be,Organic Cotton Apparel&Fair Trade!

But why Fair Trade?Because it also ensures that the clothing is ethically grown and that the cotton growers and garment manufacturers are all paid a good wage, ensuring that they can send their kids to school (no child labour here), save for the future and have enough for the present, and they work in safe, healthy environments!

Learn about ethical Shopping here: http://www.ethical.org.au/get-informed/

My favorite online Ethical Apparel&Acessories brands are:

The People Tree

http://www.peopletree.co.uk/

Ciel

http://www.cielshop.co.uk/

Global Girlfriend

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com

The Azadi Project

http://www.azadiproject.com

Bhalo

http://www.bhaloshop.com/

Howies

http://www.howies.co.uk/

Edun

http://www.edun.com/

Kuyichi

http://www.kuyichi.com

more brands here:http://www.ecofashionworld.com/Activewear/listA.html

Summer were are you?At The North Circular?

With all this weird "summer" weather soon we´ll start using gloves in  July and pop out our bikinis in January!
If so,here´s The North Circular, a  Fair Trade collection of knitted wool hats, gloves and  scarves, a company co-founded by famous supermodel and ecologist activist, Lily Cole.

The North Circular donates five per cent of its profits to the Environment Justice Foundation and iis a bit pricy but its surely justified to ensure workers not to be exploited during production: http://thenorthcircular.com/
At their website you can even meet the knitters and the sheep that bring you the best organic wooll!

Welll done Lily for getting involved with Eco Fashion and spreading the word because change need to happen!

In 2002, textiles and apparel manufacturing accounted for $400 billion in global exports, representing 6% of world trade and 8% of world trade in manufactured goods. Textiles and apparel exports are equationated with the explotation of workers from developed countries such as ( 2002):Bangladesh: 85.9%,Macau: 84.4%,Cambodia: 72.5%,Pakistan: 72.1%,El Salvador: 60.2%,Mauritius: 56.6%,Sri Lanka: 54.3%,Dominican Republic: 50.9%,Nepal: 48.7%,Tunisia: 42.4%

The explotation of workers from developed countries (like some in Bangladesh that are for example, paid 0,5 cents p/ hour, on a 80 hours work week) is a sad reality that ensures big textile companies to sell really cheap clothing.
This means that if you paid 1,50 euros for a pair of socks,beside of the obvious bad quality material used on its confection,its manufacturing must also have been really,really cheap...
So next time you´ll find a hole in one of your 1,50 euros sock, instead of running to Primark to buy a new pair (we presently think in a very disposable way like "they were so cheap so not worth the sewing work"...well think twice,sit in your couch,put some relaxing music, grab your mother old sewing kit and enjoy a 5 minute sewing moment like in the old ways!