There are so many fantastic fashion activists and organisations around the world working to make the industry a better, greener place. But where should you start? We’ve rounded up some of the most interesting.
Fashion Revolution
Home of the #WhoMadeMyClothes campaign and a hub for all things fashion activism. It all kicked off after the Rana Plaza factory collapse, which killed 1,138 people in Bangladesh who were working for western clothing brands. In response, Fashion Revolution organises a Fashion Revolution Week to amplify unheard voices and foreground human rights in the industry.
Venetia La Manna
This 30-year-old has become an activist powerhouse, hosting podcast All The Small Things, founding a campaign to support garment workers called Remember Who Made Them, and creating #OOOTD (Old Outfit of the Day) to encourage people to resist the throwaway, wear-once culture of Instagram. She posts regularly on greenwashing, fast fashion and clothing waste.
Drip by Drip
This is the world’s first NGO which tackles water issues in the fashion and textile industry. It highlights that 840 million people lack clean water, 300–500 million tonnes of chemicals are dumped into waters each year. Their projects seek to create more water-friendly materials, educate consumers and producers as well as filter and clean polluted groundwaters around the world.
Cotton Diaries
“The cotton industry can be thirsty, toxic, exploitative, but we believe there are better ways to do it,” says this organisation, which seeks to make cotton supply chains more sustainable. They help brands and suppliers identify and improve problems – vital when it’s known that non-organic cotton is one of the most destructive industries around.
Fashion for Good
A platform founded by Laudes Foundation, it hopes to encourage a circular supply chain across the entire apparel industry, by giving promising start-ups support and building a movement around working conditions and environmental impact. Their Instagram account is a particularly good place to learn and be inspired.
Slow Factory
This American non-profit provides educational training courses in all things climate-related for Black, Brown, Indigenous and minority ethnic people, taught by scholars and educators from those communities. Their courses cover a whole host of fashion-related topics, from Fashion and Colonialism to a History of Cotton. There are also more specialised courses for makers and designers, like how to make sure jewellery material is sustainably sourced.
Adapt
A cross between a creative studio and an activist platform, this is like nothing you’ve seen before in environmental activism. Their striking graphic messages – many available to buy as protest scarves – are a brilliant way to make their messages hit home.
Remake our World
“A community of fashion lovers, women rights advocates, and environmentalists on a mission to change the industry’s harmful practices on people and our planet.” This group runs programmes across education, advocacy and transparency. Including the #NONEWCLOTHES pledge, asking people to avoid buying clothes for 90 days to reset their relationship with fashion.
Mikaela Loach
Part-fashion influencer, part-climate and racial justice advocate, we have no idea how this 21-year-old Scot fits it all in around her medical degree. She’s also currently taking the UK government to court for providing tax breaks to oil and gas companies. Her sharp, gorgeous Instagram account is filled with knowledge and inspiration.