In this latest edition of our monthly FashMash Pioneers series, Orsola De Castro, author and co-founder of Fashion Revolution, discusses revolutionising fashion.
If 2021 was fashion’s year of raising ambitions - from the COP26 pledges to brand commitments - then 2022 must be a year of realising them. What better fashion pioneer to kick off this collective realisation than Orsola De Castro - co-founder of Fashion Revolution, author and one of the original thought-leaders in the space.
In this discussion, we deep dive into the revolutionary acts required from both brands and individuals to make 2022 a year of radical fashion change. Here are some highlights...
EXCESS
“Excess is not a word that we can keep writing into our future. Until we address quantity, until we address pay, what are we doing? It's easier for brands to apply a sticking plaster than to address the fact that we need to completely change this economic system in order to make it balanced… We're talking about vast amounts of product made by people that are underpaid. We are making to waste. How can that make economic sense?”
DEGROWTH AND REDISTRIBUTION
“Degrowth must become a reality. My other important word is redistribution. The industry could produce a lot better in a model where people could gain skills as they produce… A garment worker right now is not paid by the hour but by the piece. They have to produce more and more. That leads to mistakes. It leads to a life barren of growth when it comes to their own personal skills... When we look at profits and loss, those profits should be redistributed to working conditions [and upskilling].”
HIGH END & HIGH STREET
“It's always the same things missing: respect for people by paying a living wage and allowing them to unionise within their workplace, as well as the abuse of natural resources and pollution… Neither luxury or high street brands are paying their garment workers a living wage. Neither are 100% transparent over their practices… Right now, I don't believe any brand is doing enough.”
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