This week, wear your clothes inside-out, flaunt your label and ask your brand —‘Who Grew My Clothes?’ and ‘Who Made My Clothes?’.
“The concept of this week-long “Show Your Label Week” social media campaign, from April 24 to May 1, is to let people know that their clothes don’t come from brands, but from a farmer,” says campaign manager, Fairtrade India, Devina Singh. “Fair trade” is an alternative approach to regular trade practices, where the farmer, producer or worker down the chain gets fair and ethical pay for his work, and middlemen are eliminated. By buying fair trade labelled products, consumers support producers who are working to improve their lives.
This social media campaign was an offshoot of the global Fashion Revolution Day, observed on April 24, which marks the third anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed 1,133, and injured over 2,500 people in what is considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history.
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“One in six people in this world work in the global fashion supply chain. It is the most labour dependent industry on the planet, yet the people who make our clothes are hidden from us. And this supply chain is most exploitative,” says Devina. Fairtrade India is a not-for-profit organisation that organises farmers into communities to directly sell their produce to brands, eliminating middlemen. At the end of the growing season, a premium is paid to the farming community, which they then utilise to help build roads, schools, set up water pumps, invest in seeds, set up supplemental small businesses etc., explains Devina. “We are also trying to get women farmers recognised. Women do a lot of work on the farm but are not recognised as farmers,” says Devina.
Working on the cotton campaign for Fairtrade, Devina says she visited Fairtrade farmers and garment factory workers all over the country and wanted to ensure that more brands make a commitment to supporting the people who grow and make our clothes. “The complex fashion supply chains are unable to trace themselves down to the people who grow our clothes and hence don’t relate to the national crisis our farmers are facing today. We forget that India is the second largest grower and consumer of cotton in the world and much of the farmer suicides in the country happens among cotton farmers,” she makes the connect.
Here’s hoping there will be answers!
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WHAT TO DO:
* Wear your clothes inside out this week and ‘Show Your Label’.
* Upload your picture on social media asking your favourite brands #WhoGrewMyClothes #WhoMadeMyClothes
* Make your post public and use the hashtag #ShowYourLabel & #FashRev
* Details on http://cotton.fairtradeindia.org/