Did you know that this week is Fashion Revolution Week? Maybe not, but don’t worry, because we will explain everything that you need to know about it, and the role that fashion influencers play. The global fashion industry is worth 1.5 trillion U.S dollars, with the demand only growing.
But, a huge amount of this industry contributes to the damaging effects on our planet, as well as to human rights too. Throughout every stage of the supply chain, unsustainable practices are taking place within the fashion industry, which has sparked the need for a fashion revolution.
Not only will we cover the importance of Fashion Revolution Week, but we will be taking a look at some fashion influencers that advocate for the revolution too.
What is Fashion Revolution Week?
Fashion Revolution Week runs from 19th-25th April, every year. Fashion Revolution is a global movement that was set up after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, with its anniversary falling on April 24th.
If you didn’t already know, the Rana Plaza was a building in Bangladesh that was home to several garment factories, employing a large number of local workers. In 2013, the building collapsed, killing and injuring thousands of people, being one of the largest industrial disasters ever.
The movement was set up to raise awareness for not only the disaster but for the malpractices that exist throughout the fashion industry. The aim is to revolutionize the fashion industry, changing the way in which garments are sourced, produced, and purchased, to create a supply chain that fully respects all human and nature rights.
Why is this so important?
The way in which the fashion industry is set up has unfortunately grown to often prioritize profit above people and the planet. The Fashion Revolution hopes to change this.
With online shopping becoming increasingly more available to consumers, and e-commerce brands growing faster than ever, there are often consequences of this way of shopping. As a global population, we are becoming more aware of our actions and learning about how we can make improvements.
In fact, did you know that the fashion industry accounts for almost 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 20% of water waste? In all of our efforts to fight climate change, we cannot forget about the role that our shopping habits play in this too.
Of course, it’s not just the planet that is being harmed by the fashion industry. Many of our favorite brands, thinking about the ‘fast fashion’ companies that operate across the globe, are in fact culprits of exploitation of their workers. We know that in many developing countries around the world, human rights are almost non-existent and labor is extremely cheap. But this is only worsened by some of the global brands that we love, taking advantage of these minimal wages. It’s important that we do everything that we can to fight for the rights of workers across all corners of the globe.
A need for change
As consumers, in order to support sustainable fashion, it’s up to us to make changes to our shopping habits. Not only this but to put pressure on brands to encourage transparency in their practices and ensure that workers are being paid an acceptable wage.
Although we can try to change our habits, for example by shopping locally and supporting small businesses, it is ultimately up to the brands themselves to make a change for the greater good.
As either a brand or a consumer reading this, I would recommend checking out this British Fashion Council report on fast fashion and the environment, reading up here and elsewhere, about the changes that can be made to stop supporting the fast fashion industry.
The role of influencers
We speak of consumers and brands, but what about influencers? Well, one of the most beneficial methods of spreading awareness and encouraging change comes from influencers. By having a large platform, particularly with a loyal group of followers looking up to them, it’s important that influencers step up and start these conversations.
Speaking of influencers, nano influencer @mao_miyakoshi is one of the faces of this year’s Fashion Revolution. She describes herself as a fashion stylist and climate activist. Mao posts about ethical fashion choices and how to re-work your wardrobe with what you already have.
Many influencers like Mao are advocates for sustainable fashion, spending a lot of their time researching ways to constantly better their behaviors and the impact that they have on others. However, even for influencers that do not dedicate as much time to ethical fashion as Mao, it is still vital for them to use their platforms responsibly. Some influencers will publicly refuse to work with certain brands due to their involvement in bad practices, like exploiting their workers, for example.
With the responsibility that comes with having a platform of their size, influencers are able to raise awareness for the issues surrounding the fashion industry. Additionally, they can commit to helping their followers to make positive changes with recommendations and ideas on how to do so.
Finding fashion influencers with Heepsy
As a brand, if you are looking for fashion influencers to work with you, then you’ve come to the right place. Or, if you have read this article simply with the interest of discovering sustainable fashion influencers, then you’ve also come to the right place!
With Heepsy, you can find influencers specifically within these areas. Just follow these helpful tips.
- Log into your Heepsy account.
- Select Instagram from the first dropdown box.
- Under the category filter, choose Fashion.
- Choose any other filters that you wish to search by, such as location or age.
You will be given all of the fashion influencers within your search specifications. Then, you could choose to create a list. Here, you could compare the metrics of different influencers, choosing to add comments, as well as downloading the list with their contact information.
An extra tip to narrow down your search if you are looking for sustainable fashion influencers would be to do a keyword search. So, in the top search bar, you could enter ‘sustainable fashion’ or ‘ethical fashion’, for example. This will allow you to view even more specific influencers to your suit your search interests.
Conclusion
Whether you previously knew about Fashion Revolution Week or not, I would encourage you to read up some more about the movement and about sustainable fashion practices.
When looking for fashion influencers, this is definitely something to take into account. And, as an influencer, there is increasing pressure to educate ourselves around the matter. The Fashion Revolution has written an article, titled Dear Influencers, which is a great place to start.
