BACKGROUND TO FASHION REVOLUTION OPEN STUDIO

Fashion Revolution was started as a campaign to help the fashion industry clean up its act. The Rana Plaza factory collapse on April 24 2013 was a wake up call for everyone to take responsibility for the way the industry works. In the intervening years, while the campaign for workers’ rights and safe working conditions continues to be necessary, the climate emergency has emerged as the major priority for the global industry to address.

We all know that the fashion and textiles industry is one of the most polluting industries, from the chemicals in the cotton fields, the toxic effluent in the waste water from the textile mills, to the carbon emissions used for the transportation of garments from factory to shop floor.

Fashion Revolution Open Studio was launched by Fashion Revolution in 2017, as a way to engage with the designers and brands of all sizes who were building sustainable thinking into the core of their business models. It quickly became clear that there was a new generation of emerging talent around the world who see no point in setting up a fashion business that is not responsible in the way it sources its materials, pays the people who work for them fairly, and operates in a way that is transparent and with as minimal impact on the environment as possible.

As the name suggests, Fashion Revolution Open Studio invites clients, press, buyers, other industry professionals, students and educators into the designers’ studios to see first-hand how the clothes are being made and to trigger larger conversations around the importance of quality, not just of the final product but of the craftsmanship, the concepts and the systems involved.

For SMEs like those involved in the Small but Perfect programme, innovative thinking and circular systems can be expensive and complex to implement – so for this particular project, the rationale behind Fashion Revolution Open Studio offered the designers the opportunity to highlight the research & development behind their projects. This was not about showcasing a product but an ecosystem of ideas, material exchange, life cycles and new ways of communicating and interacting with the customer that promote a longer lifespan for both the materials we use and the clothes we wear.

The industry is changing and so too must the way we promote and sell our products. Sure the aesthetics, fit and style is important. But so too is accessibility, and an understanding of the way our clothes are made. Greenwashing across the industry is rife and we must find clear and more transparent ways to highlight the designers, makers, upcyclers and service suppliers who are changing the industry for the better so that retailers and the general public can make better choices about what they buy and how they invest their money.

NOTE: As of April 2023, Fashion Open Studio has been renamed Fashion Revolution Open Studio. It is accessed via Instagram @fashionrevolutionopenstudio and www.fashionrevolutionopenstudio.com

“The only way to fix issues like pollution, excessive production, solutions for reducing the amount of pre-and-post consumer textiles, waste colonialism where brands –and entire countries – push their clothing waste onto developing markets in South America, west Africa, and Asia, is to have a global approach.”