In The Midst Of The Covid-19 Crisis Fashion Revolution Week Has Never Been More Important

Authored by Orsola de Castro, Founder of Fashion Revolution

Right now it is almost impossible to imagine a better fashion industry emerging from the Covid-19 crisis, especially as we are confronted on a daily basis with its miserable failings: orders cancelled and left indefinitely unpaid by many (so far, only a handful of brands have honoured their commitments), workers laid off with zero or next to zero severance pay, or made to work in perilously unsafe conditions; warehouses full to the brim with mass produced excess stock that will never sell.

Never before now, under these extreme circumstances, has it been so blatant to see that our whole system puts profits way ahead of people.

In the meantime, the smaller brands, the independent businesses and emerging fashion designers can hardly survive the impact from loss of sales and productivity, and many will be forced to close in the oncoming months - we could be facing a hecatomb.

Which is why I am proud of the work we will be doing this Fashion Revolution Week (20th to 26th April 2020), highlighting how transparency is more important now than ever and instigating conversations around how we can support each other, and look out for those more in need - we will continue to champion the most vulnerable in the fashion supply chain, demanding empathy and respect: empathy for the people who make our clothes and respect for the planet we all share.

Our Fashion Open Studio schedule will take our global community right at the heart of young designers studio spaces, an opportunity to take part in virtual workshops and conversations, but most of all to meet these designers in person, discover their teams, and hear about their struggles during these difficult times in preparation of how best we can all support their businesses once the worst is over.

Our Fashion Question Time event (usually in partnership with the V&A but taking place on Zoom and live-streamed on YouTube this year) will fall on the day of the 7th anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster and will highlight the role that consumption will have post Covid-19, as well as keep remind us that together we need to effect systemic change for the future of our planet and its people. 

The event will be chaired again by Chaired by Baroness Lola Young, and our panelists this year are Professor Kate Fletcher, Mary Creagh, Dio Kurazawa, Kenya Hunt and Dr Lisa Cameron MP.

Fashion Revolution will keep you company this Fashion Revolution Week and beyond, and provide everyone with a continuous stream of contents and inspiration, so that when the other side nears, our community of citizens experts will stay solid in their resolutions, having absorbed knowledge, fine-tuned their future sustainable shopping strategies, and hardened their grit and resilience.

One thing that is certain is that we are worshipping different heroes at the moment, finally recognising the people who really do make a tangible difference in our lives - and this, I think, could stick. 

At a time of global crisis, our celebrity demigods are not as well equipped to provide solace, comfort and help, as doctors, nurses and carers, and I don’t think we will forget that easily. A generation of corona virus children will grow up remembering that this incredibly difficult, global effort to isolate and stay home, was done to help all frontline workers manage their load, out of respect for their very real, very human jobs. 

Culturally, this will have an impact on who we admire and who we will choose to look up to as people of influence. 

Many of us hope for balance and an end to the kind of unsustainable and unethical business practices that we have all become accustomed to. Post Covid-19 could be a rebirth of a kind, but history teaches us the opposite,  and that repression and restrictions tend to be followed by renewed excesses, which is why it is so crucial that we take this time to think to reflect, to embark on new positive habits and to learn. 

A time to commit further and cement our intentions for those of us who are already started on this journey, and a time to jump into this conversation with consistency if you were only dabbling so far.

As humans, we are seeing that we can all come together when the circumstances demand it, and this difficult period of social distancing is highlighting our collective resolve, resilience and rigour when it comes to acting together for the common good. These valuable sentiments, and the positive deeds that follow them, should be our guiding light for the future, from now on, forever.