What is the Fashion Revolution?
On April 24th of 2013, Rana Plaza, a garment factory in Bangladesh, tragically collapsed, killing and injuring thousands of low-paid workers. This deadly catastrophe shed light on the darkest corner of the fashion industry; horrendous working conditions and lack of efficient regulations came at the ultimate cost: innocent human life. The Fashion Revolution was born, a movement that promotes slow and ethical fashion, and creates awareness on the injustices that still happen today.
Fast Fashion
To understand the need for a Fashion Revolution and the slow fashion movement, it's important to take a look at fast fashion. Fast fashion brands quickly mass-produce garments and accessories, prioritizing quantity over quality, and profits over people and the planet. Low prices and immediate fulfillment appeal to many, but the consequences are dire- over 60% percent of fabrics in the fast fashion industry are synthetic, derived from petroleum. Around 85% of those fabrics become waste and end up in US landfills, unable to be recycled. Synthetic microfibers end up in the ocean, unable to decompose. Fast fashion is notorious for exploiting its factory workers with low wages, child labor, slave labor, long hours, and unsafe working conditions. The Fashion Revolution and slow fashion movement has gained tremendous momentum since the Rana Plaza tragedy. In 2020, consumers spent more than seven billion hours online searching for “sustainable,” “ethical,” “fair trade,” and “eco-friendly” items - a hopeful sign that slow and ethical fashion is the way of the future. But there is still much to be done. And we can all be part of the solution!
Slow Fashion
YOU are the Fashion Revolution
The most important part of the slow fashion movement is YOU. Your choices create real change in the fashion industry and cause large companies to rethink the way they treat workers and the environment. A great place to start is to ask questions - ask the brands you purchase from for transparency about their ethics and business practices.
Stay tuned during Fashion Revolution Week! We'll be sharing tips on how you can be an active participant in the movement, from actionable steps as an activist to abandoning fast fashion for good and building a capsule wardrobe.
We couldn't be a part of this movement without YOU. Your support of slow and ethical fashion as a conscious consumer is invaluable. Throughout the week, please enjoy 25% OFF site-wide with code CHOOSEFAIR.
To learn more about MZ's brand transparency and commitment to ethical practices, click here.
