User:Hannah.louise.lewis/sandbox

The Rana Plaza building collapsed due to a structural failure occurring on 24th April 2013 in Bangladesh where an eight story commercial building collapsed. The death toll reached 1,132 people, and injuring a further 2,500 (that was those who were retrieved from the building site) - it's considered as the deadliest structural failure accident in modern human history. As Well as the deadliest garment factory disaster in the world. The building owners ignored warnings, and were instructed to avoid using the building after the cracks had appeared the day before. Garment workers were ordered to return the following day, and the building collapsed the next morning during rush hour, the busiest time frame in the factory. The factory manufactured apparel for brands including Prada, Gucci, Versace, Moncler, Monsoon, Accessorize, Mango, Matalan, Primark and Walmart. The head of the fire department said the upper four floors had been built without a permit and were never structurally safe. Architects stressed the risks involved in placing factories inside a building designed for only shops and offices, noting the building was never strong enough to withhold the weight of heavy industrial machinery. That morning the building collapsed, leaving only the ground floor intact. Local residents described the scene as if ‘an earthquake had happened’. There were a few more major factors that played a huge part in the collapse of the factories; those being: The building was built on an old pond, meaning the ground was wet and unstable Conversion on the building took place before the collapse, where it went from the use of commercial creation to industrial use There was an additional of 3 floors added on the top of the buildings without a permit The use of substandard construction material which lead to an overload of the building structure aggravated by vibrations due to the generators The disaster of the building collapse, awakened the world to the poor labour conditions that the workers faced in the fast fashion garment industry around the world. The 5 garment factories in Rana Plaza all manufactured for big global brands, the victims were mostly young women.

The disaster of 2013 collapse sparked the inspiration of the organisation, The Fashion Revolution. They are a non profit global movement with teams in over one hundred different countries around the world, and campaign for systemic reform of the fashion industry with a focus on the need for greater transparency in the fashion supply chain. They state that they want to unite people and organisations around the world, to work together towards changing the way our clothes are sourced, produced and consumed so that our clothes are made in a safe environment.

Our clothes have gone on an extremely long journey before they hit the store shelves, passing through the hands of cotton farmers, spinners, weavers, dyers, sewers and many others. Approximately 75 million people work to make our clothes.

In garment factories across the world, many of the less fortunate countries and factories produce clothes for some of the UK’s high streets biggest retailers, where workers struggle to survive on little income and are forced to produce such garments in unimaginable working conditions. Many are forced into working an excessive amount of hours and are denied basic human rights within the working industry. A garment workers wage is around £25 per month which is far below living wage. 80% of workers start before eight o’clock in the morning and finish around 10 o’clock at night. Within the sweatshop industry, some factory workers have to work up to 140 hours of unpaid overtime each month in order to keep up with fast fashion deadlines that are set by these huge westen businesses.

Sadly once again, many of these factory buildings do not meet the standards required by building and construction legislation. As a result of this a building collapses are becoming more frequent- which is why organisations like the fashion revolution are vital to insure a change happens NOW, we simply cannot allow individuals to work in such a disgusting and dehumanising environments all for the sake of a new pair of jeans, it's just disgusting!

85% of factory workers are young girls and women, who are exposed to these conditions; no ventilation where they are breathing in toxic substances. The percentage of women that have been verbally or physically abused if deadlines have not been met, along with being denied breaks or access to drinking water is horrendously high.

Employers in poor parts of the world get away with child labour, mainly because the fashion supply chain is hugely complex and is difficult for big companies to control and over see every part of production; but still doesnt make it legal or okay in anyway shape or form. Children work at all stages of the supply chain in the garment industry, from the production of cotton right through to the chemically induced leather industry. Putting together garments, being made to work long hours, exposure to disease and in many cases being forced to work for free. Around 260 million children are in employment around the world, specifically within the fashion industry. Production of raw materials like cotton and silk are a particular risk for brands. Few retailers are able to trace the origin of the material they used back to farm, making it difficult it difficult to monitor child labour acts.

People in the environment are suffering as a result of the way our clothes are made, soured and consumed. This needs to change! Most of the world lives in a capitalist economy. This means companies increase sales growth and make profits in order to succeed- but crucially not at the expense of peoples working conditions, health, livelihoods, dignity and creativity.

The fashion revolution have proposed a business framework of change borrowed from researchers Rebecca Early and Kate Goldsworthy. They state ‘in order to change three key things to be addressed: model, material and mindset.

Model - the business of fashion Material - people and planet Mindset - shifting the way we think about fashion

This is a framework to help the fashion revolution succeed and ensure that the world changes, because we can not continue to destroy people's lives all for the benefits of our daily outfit pictures, weekly everexcessive hauls, and yearly wardrobe clear outs.

This is a mammoth addiction that needs to be stopped on the speed/volume. Were not understanding our implications that quick spending is having on the world and those who create the garments that are sold within the fast fashion industry. Ultimately we simply need to buy less, buy better and keep asking the question who made my clothes? We need to love the clothes we already own more and work harder to make them last. Mindsets are beginning to shift. This is evident by the large number of people who have been more involved with the fashion revolution over the past 4 years. As well as similar organisations, groups and individuals who are having a tremendous implications on the way in which our current culture thinks, shops and educates.

Over the last six years, the Fashion Revolution have accomplished a tremendous amount, but are nowhere near the end of their fight.

Ways in which The Fashion Revolution are fighting this war is by creating the #imadeyourclothes in 2016 to encourage those who make our clothes to be heard and to allow their story to be told! They say, “We see empowerment not as a celebrity wearing a feminist slogan T-shirt on Instagram, but as the workers who made that T-shirt being given a voice through the garment worker diaries project.” Garment workers would post a picture, or someone on their behalf, of them holding the quote and using the hashtag. This helped to put faces to the stories we hear and raise awareness of these people’s stories. The organisation managed to get 2,416 brands to respond to their #whomademyclothes demands, sharing more information on their supply chain. Over 150 big brands published their factories, giving even more information on their chain. With the organisation being founded in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, they have since got over 1,300 factories inspected leading to 1.8 million garment workers receiving factory safety information. Minimum wages have begun to increase in some places, however it’s an area that still needs work. In Bangladesh, the government increased minimum wage by 77% which equates to $68 a month. They then increased it even more to around $95 a month. However, the living wage is around $214, meaning work still needs to be done to get their wages to where they need to be. A big part of what the Fashion Revolution have done is their Transparency Index, where they’ve picked 150 of the biggest Fashion brands and apparel brands and retailers and share information based on their social and environmental policies and practises. These brands are chosen based on their annual turnover being over $500 million USD and their aim to touch each segment of the market. Since this began, more and more brands are sharing information about their supply chain, increasing their score. They have counted 150 over 32 parent groups disclosing some facilities making their clothes. There have also been changes in the environmental impacts of fast-fashion. Brands are starting to reduce their use of toxic chemicals and clean up their supply chain. Over 70 brands and suppliers have committed to detox by 2020. The Fashion Revolution state ‘but our landfills still overflow with clothes, the industry continues to get bigger and move faster.’ This means that we are still buying clothes more than ever, and more needs to be done in order for a big change. It was the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory that shed light on the working conditions in the garment industry faced, spurring the creation of the Fashion Revolution. Since, they have achieved greater transparency amongst the industry and have seen a rise in minimum wages. There is still, however, a long way to go until the staff are paid a living wage, brands start taking account for their whole supply chain, consumers being more aware with their shopping habits, brands making a positive impact on the world - instead of destroying it with poorly sourced materials, and forcing individuals to work for very little in disgusting environments.