Decade of Fashion Transformation: A Timeline of Revolution

The collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh, where garment factories were located, was a devastating event. It resulted in the loss of over 1,100 lives and left around 2,500 workers injured, many severely.

This tragedy, among the worst in industrial manufacturing history, brought attention to the usually hidden realities of garment production: where and under what conditions clothes are made.

Carry Somers, the owner of the sustainable brand Pachacuti, and designer Orsola de Castro founded the non-profit organization Fashion Revolution after the Rana Plaza disaster.

A decade later, it has become the largest fashion activism campaign globally, operating in over 100 countries.

The inaugural Fashion Revolution Day introduced #InsideOut, the predecessor to the Who Made My Clothes? Campaign in 2014. It urged consumers, designers, and retailers to reflect on where their clothes come from and gain deeper insights.

Participants were encouraged to wear their clothes inside out, snap a photo, and share it using #insideout across social media. The initiative drew tens of thousands of participants from over 60 countries in its first year.

In 2015, the globally recognized #WhoMadeMyClothes campaign was launched. In Berlin, Germany, at Alexanderplatz, Fashion Revolution Germany installed a unique "2-euro T-shirt vending machine". This social experiment allowed consumers to purchase a basic white T-shirt for just 2 euros. However, before buying, they were shown information about the garment's production, revealing harsh conditions like 16-hour workdays for minimal pay, often just a few cents per hour.

In 2016, the first Fashion Revolution Week was held, featuring a series of events aimed at raising awareness about the fashion industry. This included the introduction of the #LovedClothesLast and #IMadeYourClothes campaigns. The latter initiative highlighted the voices of over 3,500 producers.

In 2017, another Fashion Revolution Week took place alongside the launch of the inaugural Fashion Transparency Index. This index assessed 100 major fashion companies, each with annual revenues exceeding 1.2 billion US dollars, to gauge their transparency practices. Unfortunately, none of the brands, even the leading ones, achieved a transparency score higher than 50 percent. Only eight brands managed to score above 40 percent, including Adidas, Reebok, Marks and Spencer, H&M, Puma, Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy.

In 2018, the fifth anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse was observed, coinciding with the fifth Fashion Revolution Week. Each year, this event attracted growing numbers of participants from around the globe.

In 2019, Fashion Revolution Week returned with a variety of events including repair workshops, talks, discussion panels, and even bike rides. Fashion Revolution also debuted a series of instructional videos and PDF guides that taught innovative fashion skills such as patching clothes, reducing waste, and advocating for change.

For the first time in the Fashion Transparency Index's history, certain brands scored above 60 percent: Adidas, Reebok, and Patagonia led with 64 percent out of a possible 250 points, while Esprit and H&M both achieved 61 percent.

In 2020, the Fashion Revolution Index highlighted ongoing transparency issues within the industry. H&M, C&A, and Adidas/Reebok topped the list with scores of 73, 70, and 69 percent respectively out of a possible 250 points. Esprit followed closely with 64 percent, while Marks & Spencer and Patagonia each scored 60 percent. Shockingly, over half of the brands (54 percent) scored 20 percent or lower, and 28 percent scored as low as 10 percent.

Fashion Revolution also launched a new campaign in partnership with Circle Economy called #Whatsinmyclothes. This campaign revealed that in 41 percent of cases, the labels on clothing items did not accurately reflect their composition.

Despite the pandemic pushing most of Fashion Revolution Week online for the second consecutive year, 2021 turned out to be one of the most significant events yet. Centered around themes of "Human Rights, Relationships, and Revolution," over 90 Fashion Revolution teams globally hosted impactful events and activities. A notable highlight was the introduction of the #WhoMadeMyFabric campaign. Additionally, Fashion Revolution participated in the UN climate conference COP26 to advocate for fashion industry reforms.

Like the previous year, fashion brands and retailers showed minimal improvement in revealing their production practices and sustainability efforts in 2022. The average overall score barely increased to 24 percent from 2021. A third of the brands assessed scored less than ten percent, including Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino, while 17 major brands, including Jil Sander, Max Mara, Tom Ford, Fashion Nova, Shein, and New Yorker, received a zero percent rating. On the other hand, Italian retailer OVS and Australian giants Target and Kmart excelled with a score of 78 percent, a significant improvement from the previous year.

In 2023, the tenth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse was observed during Fashion Revolution Week. The week included a photo exhibition to honor the workers, along with clothes swap events, workshops, and activities focused on achieving a living wage. One notable event was the Fair Fashion Day held outside the European Parliament in Brussels.

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