2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Fashion Revolution, the world's largest fashion activism movement. Every year, the organization launches Fashion Revolution Week 2024 in 80 countries. The campaign marks a decade of active campaigning this year with ten days of action running from April 15 to 24, whilst encompassing a wide range of locally-driven activities across the globe. Since its foundation, Fashion Revolution has mobilized hundreds of thousands of global citizens to take action, engaged policymakers lobbied for legislative change, and demanded greater transparency from the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers.
Fashion Revolution Week is the organization's annual campaign. It brings together fashion activists around the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, on April 24, 2014, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A week of conferences, talks, and workshops with inspiring personalities and partner associations, to raise awareness of the impacts of clothing and solutions to consume less but better. On April 20 there is the first Mend In Public Day, a truly global day of action designed as an accessible form of activism, to rebel against the disposable mindset of the current fashion industry.
“The story of Fashion Revolution is one of community. Over the last ten years, our grassroots movement has grown into a fully-fledged Global Network across 75 countries and counting. Together, we have brought the people who make our clothes to the forefront of the conversation, pushed for greater industry transparency, and mobilized countless citizens and policymakers to take action. In the lead up to Fashion Revolution Week 2024, we will look back to look forward and invite Fashion Revolutionaries, new and old, to get involved with our next ten years of fashion activism, guided by the learnings from the last decade,” commented Rudo Nondo, acting managing director, Fashion Revolution Cic.
The theme for the 2024 campaign is centered around How to be a Fashion Revolutionary, exploring what it means to be part of the revolution, fashion’s role in driving social and environmental justice, and redefining what fashion activism looks like for the future. Fashion Revolution has seen its community triple in five years thanks to increased awareness of the impact of fashion. The campaign highlights the urgent need for regulations to counter overproduction and overconsumption, problems exacerbated by the massive use of unsustainable materials, such as petroleum-based polyester. In France, for example, the commitment to laws such as the duty of vigilance and the anti-fast fashion law reflects this horizon of meaning toward more responsible fashion.
The annual Fashion Transparency Index, released by the organization, has helped to drive change by promoting transparency within the industry, with brands evidencing progressive increases in their scores, year-on-year since 2017. More than half (52%) of the 250 major brands reviewed are disclosing their first-tier supplier lists, a promising shift compared to 32 out of 100 brands (32%) in the first edition of the Index.
The industry is at a tipping point with more than 65% of textiles coming from oil and an annual production of 3.3 billion pieces. Fashion Revolution is committed to educating and mobilizing a new generation of fashion revolutionaries to slow down production, promote gender equality, and move the industry toward more ethical and sustainable management.
For more information visit www.fashionrevolution.org
Photo: Courtesy of Fashion Revolution
