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It has been quite a bit of a while since my last post. So many things have happened in the fashion industry that I must explain so that we can continue spreading the word as well as making necessary changes.</p>
As many may know, laws have been changing to support women and garment workers here and abroad. We are still hash-tagging #PayUp in our social media posts because several corporate fast fashion brands stopped paying their garment-workers. They received garments a little later than expected due to the hold-ups in the postal systems during the initial havoc wreaked by Coronavirus, and just decided not to pay their workers at all. They still sold the garments to fashionistas here in America.</p>
Here in the USA, some brands in California have been paying unfair wages to their garment workers. They have been scandalous and disgusting! But because of the efforts of Remake ambassadors putting pressure on the fast fashion brands here, we've had a breakthrough. The bill SB62 was passed as a law, increasing garment worker wages to minimum wage. Now brands that come out of California can be sued and probably fined for abusing the law and in turn hurting women. It becomes a women's' rights issue because most garment-workers are women, and we have had enough!
I am technically a skilled craftsperson at best. I may never get my name out there like I want to. So I do this type of ecofeminist advocacy, because it is jarring to know the truth about who made my clothes. Remake Ambassadors are very diverse, and very widespread. Remake is a global organization after all. An article about different stories told by garment-workers related to Remake ambassadors will be coming out soon. We're looking for more people to take up the helm and sail this ship by telling their personal stories and experiences in the fashion industry!
If you are interested in standing up to fast fashion fear-mongers, click the link below and reach out to us! href="http://www.remake.world">www.remake.world.
Now, I am also part of another organization that you may be more familiar with. Fashion Revolution is the name, and calling out fast fashion fear-mongers is also their game. They helped get corporate fashion companies to sign the Accord, a document which outlines the safety measures required of buildings where garment-workers in Bangladesh work. Bangladesh is a global fashion manufacturing hub of sorts. Many big corporations pay women and some men who work in these factories to sew their clothing. Because the Accord was signed by all the participating corporations, it is now an example of safety standards in factories that the world can follow. But it is not even close to the need to increase wages. Fashion Revolution was started after the Rana Plaza factory fire and collapse in 2013, which killed over 1100 people. The factory that we speak of is the Tazreen Fashions Factory in Bangladesh. I pray that all those families are at peace.
What I truly hope and pray for is that fast fashion is coming to an end. In America, more laws are coming to fruition that are meant to help models, but also hair and makeup artists, stylists, influencers, and other behind-the-scenes creatives in the industry get paid such is the Fashion Workers Act, created by the Model Alliance. California recently introduced the FABRIC act, introduced by Senator Gillibrand, which is the one that correct labor rights issues, and New York also introduced a Fashion Sustainability and Social Sustainability Act, (simply dubbed the Fashion Act) which is one that will hold the biggest brands in fashion to account for their role in climate change.
The reason why so many areas of the fashion industry are being attacked right now is that fashion has long since been a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, but it is also a source of poor treatment of workers, AND the 2nd-most polluting industry in the world after fossil fuels. What's more is the ability to regulate these laws becomes difficult because so many corporate fashion brands are multi-national. What we are instituting in this country, may not be held up in the country where all the manufacturing work is done. That's why the FABRIC act is also providing funding for companies willing to bring their overseas manufacturing back to American soil.
As you can see, it is time for policy-makers to do their jobs and for the people to act as well, We fashionistas can sign petitions, write letters to corporate fear-mongers demanding that they pay their workers, and sign the International Accord. This also means we should call our local congress people and demand that they act in support of the Fabric Act and the Fashion Act.
This has been an Impact Fashion Exclusive.
Warm Regards,
Lia Totty
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