Chennaiites join campaign on wear clothes inside-out

The last week of April marks one of the largest accidents in the history of fashion— the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in Bangladesh in 2013, killing and injuring over 4,000 people. Following the factory accident, an organisation called Fashion Revolution was launched. Two years later, Fashion Revolution Week was established with events happening across the globe to encourage conversations on how the fashion industry can develop. One of the ways in which the week is being observed is by popularising the campaign #whomademyclothes. Through the campaign, consumers are encouraged to wear their clothes inside out, show the label and ask the brands #whomademyclothes.

Chennai-based Thasneem Masood, the regional coordinator (south) of the Fashion Revolution, says, “Volunteers from almost 98 countries are participating in this campaign. The global fashion industry is opaque and consumers are not aware of what’s happening in the supply chain or who are part of it. Our campaign is to create a cleaner and fairer supply chain. Also, this is not just for people, but also creates a huge impact on the planet. The campaign also intends to educate consumers on reducing consumption.” 

Veena Balakrishnan, a crusader of sustainable fashion, has posted her picture in which she is seen wearing a top from a popular fashion brand inside out. “Clothing is often considered as an easily disposable commodity but it comes at a price that we don’t see. Behind the beauty of all the fashion editorial campaigns, there is a very ugly supply chain that developing countries like ours have been exposed to. The fashion revolution week is a worldwide movement to bring together every consumer to educate and advocate transparency, ethics and humanising fashion. We need to ask the brands the question — who made my clothes?

Every consumer can use their voice to bring justice to the exploitation that’s happening in the fashion industry. If there is a collective campaign on social media platforms, brands have no choice but to provide answers to our questions,” shares Veena.