Fashion Revolution Week - How To Host an Event by Fashion Revolution

HOW TO HOST AN EVENT Your guide to getting involved in Fashion Revolution Week 2024

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INTRODUCTION

PLANNING AND PROMOTING YOUR EVENT

FUNDRAISING

EVENT IDEAS

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Fashion Revolution is a global movement with a collective vision for a fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit. Fashion Revolution Week is our annual campaign bringing together the world’s largest fashion activism movement for seven days of action surrounding the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory

collapse on 24th April 2013. Fashion Revolution Week 2024 will mark ten years of Fashion Revolution with ten days of action and events around the globe.

HOW TO BE A FASHION REVOLUTIONARY Everyone has a part to play The Fashion Revolution Week in building a fashion industry 2024 theme invites our global that puts people and planet community to share a decade of learnings on what it means to first, but getting started be a part of the revolution. We can seem daunting. Join us as we celebrate ten years will hear from the community of Fashion Revolution and builders, creative thinkers redefine what fashion activism and organisers to guide the looks like for the future. next generation of Fashion Revolutionaries, and explore fashion’s role in driving social and environmental justice. 5

PLANNING AND PROMOTING YOUR EVENT Physical or virtual? Fashion Revolution Weeks have always been about bringing people together to amplify our message, with thousands of events hosted around the world in shops, studios, schools, universities, community hubs and more. During the global pandemic, we saw our community turn the magic of these events into online talks, summits and zoom calls. The bonus was that going digital allowed attendees from different cities, countries and continents to share stories and swap ideas.

This guide will give you the tools you need to plan an event that is either taking place in person or bringing people together online.

The logistics If you’re hosting an event in-person, begin by securing a space - this could be your school or workplace, or you could look for free venues like community clubs. You can reach out to coworking and event spaces and find out if they’ll donate their space for the cause.

If you’re partnering with an event space, such as a gallery, theatre venue, coworking space, or brand, ensure you talk about clear guidelines and expectations in advance. Use printed resources to make the event interactive. You can print out our #WeAreFashionRevolution signs to encourage people to take pictures at the event and share them online. If you’re hosting an event online, begin by choosing a platform – like Zoom, Instagram Live, Facebook or YouTube Live.

Promoting your event Make sure you leave enough time to generate interest in your event. Try to begin advertising the event at least 3 weeks before it takes place. Upload your event on the Fashion Revolution events page, to help bring in attendees. You can also use a 3rd party ticketing platform like Eventbrite to help manage ticket sales and attendees. Promote your event on social media to help spread the word. You can use the Fashion Revolution Week 2024 branding, but make sure you follow our brand guidelines. If the event is in partnership

with other organisations (such as an event space), make sure you follow directions on how to use the Fashion Revolution logo on page 7 of our brand guidelines. You can also find Fashion Revolution Week 2024 social media assets here. When sharing your event on social media, include the hashtags #FashionRevolution and #FashionRevolutionWeek to help it spread.

#WE ARE FASHION REVOLUTION photo: Athina Korda

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FUNDRAISING Fashion Revolution is a non-profit organisation. Everything that we do to work for a fair fashion industry is made possible by grants & donations from people like you. Where possible, we encourage events to be made free to attend, so these remain accessible to all attendees. If you’re hosting a free event, you can give attendees the option to donate to Fashion Revolution as a way to fundraise for our activities.

You can print and use this envelope template to collect donations at your event. You can also collect donations in advance by creating a ‘donation-optional’ ticket price on EventBrite. We ask that if you are using our resources to host a ticketed event (including our logo, this events guide, our branding and our digital assets) you donate some or all of the proceeds to Fashion Revolution. After your event, you can donate your funds to us via PayPal.

In our experience, charging a very small ticket price for virtual events helps ensure that attendees are more likely to turn up, and gives a better estimation of the expected number of attendees ahead of the event. 11

EVENT IDEAS The opportunities are endless, but we’ve put together a short list of some of our favourite event ideas and activities.

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Host a film screening Film screenings are a great way to educate your community, school, workplace, or peers about the realities of the fashion industry. We’ve shortlisted a few of the most eye-opening movies and documentaries on the fashion industry on the right. Film screenings are also a great opportunity to include more interactive elements, like a #WeAreFashionRevolution photobooth, or a panel discussion with local experts.

Feature Length Films • The True Cost (2015) • River Blue (2017) • Made In Bangladesh (2019) • The Price of Free (2018) • Fashion Reimagined (2023) Short Films • Who Made My Clothes? (2018) • Unravel (2012) • Two Euro T-Shirt (2015) • Tears in the Fabric (2014) • La Libertad (2017) • Catwalk to Creation (2019) • Frontline Fashion (2019) • Made in Mexico (2019)

If the film you want to screen is available on a streaming service you could create a watch party and host a remote movie night.

Host a roundtable conversation or panel discussion Panel discussion, talks and roundtables are a great way to educate people about the issues in the fashion industry through interactive talks and presentations.

Consider questions that the panelists may have varying viewpoints on, and take audience questions at the end. Roundtable discussions can be more casual, and have fewer attendees than a panel discussion so that everyone can contribute. Try using a talking stick to help keep order.

Begin by choosing a theme or topic. If you need some inspiration, take a look at our past campaigns, research and resources. Reach out to local experts who are addressing the topic, such as journalists, authors, designers or academics.

Host the panel discussion on a webinar platform, such as Zoom, and you can also live stream onto YouTube or Facebook.

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For a panel discussion, it’s a great idea to have a chair, who will research the panelists and plan questions in advance. Begin by having panelists introduce themselves and their work. nR

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Hold a march or public demonstration Sometimes the best way to make a statement about an issue is to take to the streets! Don’t think of this action as a targeted protest, but an awareness-raising demonstration around the problems in the fashion industry. Fashion Revolution doesn’t endorse shaming or targeting individual brands, we find it more effective to focus on systemic issues. Beforehand, get together with friend to create informative and inspiring posters. Choose a location, like a busy retail shopping street or public space, and spread the word. On the day, speak to your crowd or group and invite others to give speeches too.

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Then march your signs down a predetermined route and share your movement on social media along the way. For more ideas, check out this article about Fashion Revolution Germany’s Fashion Revolution Move. And visit Sustainable Fashion Matterz. If you aren’t quite ready to organise a march, consider getting together with friends and creating some fashion related signs for a climate march already taking place. You could even use our What’s In My Clothes posters. 15

Organise a public stunt Do you have an idea for a stunt that can educate the public about Fashion Revolution and the issues in the clothing industry? These stunts can be formulated from anything, but we’ve created a list of past stunts to get you started:

• In 2015, our Fashion Revolution Germany team created a public experiment to highlight the high cost of cheap clothes. • The Craftivist Collective has created a guide to making a mini fashion statement to leave in the pocket of a garment in a shop. • Many groups have organised alternative catwalk shows, featuring upcycled clothes or thrifted garments.

Put on an exhibition If you’re part of a making community, or you know people who are creating art and fashion in support of a more sustainable and transparent fashion industry, why not host an exhibition to show off the creativity? For inspiration, check out The Walk-Through, an exhibition hosted by Fashion Revolution

There are a number of online tools you can use to create virtual exhibitions. From simple blog post to dedicated websites and custom-built interactive experiences.

Philippines in 2019. You can view the Exhibition guide here. Fashion Revolution Vietnam also hosted an exhibition at the Vietnam Women’s Museum in 2019. We have also seen brilliant examples of single installations, like this one by Laura Françios of the Fashion Revolution Singapore team. Use the exhibition space as an opportunity to host additional events during the display, such as a panel discussion within the exhibition.

Museums or Galleries in your city might already use Google Arts and Culture to create virtual exhibitions so see if they would be interested in highlighting some of their collection for Fashion Revolution Week.

Hold a creative workshop If you specialise in making, or you’re a designer or artisan, consider hosting a making event or workshop for Fashion Revolution Week.

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Host your own Mend in Public Day and engage the public in making Loved Clothes Last. Learn more here. An Upcycling Workshop can unfold in many different ways, but usually involves turning discarded clothes or offcuts and scraps into new forms of clothing and accessories. 18

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A Stitch n’ Bitch is a cross between a roundtable discussion and a mending circle, where attendees bring their own sewing and mending projects to work on and take part in a guided

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It’s easy to host a virtual workshop online, by using an interactive webinar platform and having one maker lead the creative task. For inspiration, check out our virtual Stitch & Bitch or see online tutorials and mending workshops on our Fashion Open Studio playlist.

Host a clothes swap Clothes swaps are a great way to bring communities together and celebrate clothing longevity all while refreshing your wardrobe.

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Check out our dedicated guide here.

OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED Get involved Our citizens Get Involved Guide is your complete roadmap to taking part in Fashion Revolution Week 2024.

Attend an event During Fashion Revolution Week (15-24th April), thousands of events take place hosted by Fashion Revolutionaries around the world. Find one near you.

Read our latest reports All of our latest reports including the Fashion Transparency Index, Consumer Survey and our Out of Sight Transparency report can be found here.

Spread the word Use your voice to invite others to join you in taking part in Fashion Revolution Week. Find our social media assets, posters and campaign materials here.

Read up Educate yourself on the issues and get inspired by new ways to help create change.

Download free resources We believe our resources should be available for everyone, regardless of income, you can download all of them for free here or leave a small donation.

Help us keep our resources open source and free for all, so we can create a fashion industry that values people and planet over profit. If you found this resource useful, please consider making a small donation of £5/$5/€5 to help us change the system.

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