Clothing itself can be the catalyst for addressing social injustice beyond issues directly associated with the clothing industry.
https://www.cfs.fashion/article/why-fast-fashion-is-a-social-justice-issue
who is involved in making and modelling clothes, who benefits from the sale of clothing, who gets access to professional clothes? How do we engage people through collaborative clothes-making projects to inspire and educate. How can clothing can be used to address social injustice in different ways.
- Bethany Williams: A designer hailing “fashion as a force for change, working with social projects and communities to give textiles a second chance”. Previous collections include ‘All our Stories’, based on the stories of families who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. 20% of wholesale profits from such collections are donated to partner-charity The Magpie Project, and Bethany’s campaigns often feature families who have benefitted from the charity’s work. Bethany’s Autumn Winter 2022 collection is titled ‘The Hands That Heal Us’ and celebrates the people who make our clothes. You can watch the short launch film here.
- Dress for Success: A worldwide organisation, with the mission to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing professional attire, as well as a network of support and the tools to thrive in work and in life.
- Behind Bras: A UK-based organisation working with women’s prisons and women’s centres; welfare providers; resettlement and mentoring charities; universities and experts in the fashion retail and creative industries. The aim is to train women inside and outside prison to help them into employment and to become self-sufficient.
- 1000 Coats: This project, conceived by artist Whitney McVeigh, trains 100 women from the boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets, in the sewing skills required to make 1000 coats for children in poverty living across London.
Campaigns for social justice
- Clean Clothes Campaign East Asia: Improving working conditions in the East Asia garment industry.
- Fashion Revolution Week: Annual campaign bringing together fashion activism movements for seven days of action. The aim is to collectively reimagine a just and equitable fashion system for people and the planet.
- Asia Floor Wage Alliance: Asian labour-led global labour and social alliance across garment-producing countries in Asia and consumer regions of the US and Europe.
- Fashion Act Now: Activists demanding and enabling a radical de-fashion future.
- Remake: Addressing labour rights, climate and gender justice in the fashion industry.
- Labour Behind The Label: Campaigning for garment workers’ rights worldwide. You can read about a wide range of successes here.
- Greenpeace Detox campaign: Calling on fashion companies to stop polluting waterways with hazardous chemicals from clothing production.
- Changing Markets fossil fashion and viscose campaigns: Working in partnership with NGOs, other foundations and research organisations. They create and support campaigns that shift market-share away from unsustainable products and companies, and towards environmentally and socially beneficial solutions.
- Changing the Face of Beauty: Committed to equal representation of people with disabilities in advertising and media worldwide.
- Model Alliance: Through strategic research, policy initiatives and campaigns, the Model Alliance aims to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor.
- Remember Who Made Them: Group of concerned feminists with networks in philanthropy, climate activism, the arts and sustainable fashion. They collaborate with workers’ groups and campaigns to spotlight their situations and demands. They also work with social media influencers and key media outlets to raise greater awareness and action.
Art and craft in activism
‘Craftivism’, or the ‘art of craft and activism’, is a term coined by American writer and crafter Betsy Greer in 2003. Greer explains that “the creation of things by hand leads to a better understanding of democracy, because it reminds us that we have power”.
https://blog.seamwork.com/the-handmade-world/wide-angle-craft-fashion-craftivism/
There are many people using craft and art to highlight social justice issues in fashion. One movement that supports people to engage in craftivism is the Craftivist Collective.
The Craftivist Collective is “an inclusive group of people committed to using thoughtful, beautiful crafted works to help themselves and encourage others be the positive change they wish to see in the world”.
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