THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

1700s

The roller spinning machine is invented in 1738. The water-driven spinning frame (1770) brings the process out of homes into factories at scale, while the power loom (1785) industrialises the weaving of cloth.

1851

American inventor Isaac Merritt Singer patents his first sewing machine.

1867

Singer opens his first international factory, in Glasgow, chosen for its cheap labour and plentiful iron.

1900

The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union is founded in the US, with predominantly female membership.

1908

Suffragettes march en masse in London’s Hyde Park demanding votes for women. Green, white and purple trend in the UK.

1914

Vogue Pattern Book Company is formed. Two years later, Vogue patterns sell in department stores, encouraging fashion fans to make chic clothes at home. But the ready-made revolution is on its way …

1930s

New York’s Garment District, around 7th Avenue, from 30th to 42nd Streets, has the highest concentration of clothing manufacturers in the world.

1947

Women, after wearing pants and shorter skirts during World War II, protest fashion’s return to traditional hemlines on the streets of Paris and New York.

1960s

Boutique culture takes off in London, and demand for affordable clothes with short lives spreads among groovy kids. In Australia, the first trendy young fashion brands emerge.

1970s

Couturiers take Yves Saint Laurent’s lead and dive into prêt-à-porter, mostly via small scale-local manufacturing.

1980s

The likes of Calvin Klein and Pierre Cardin kick-start the craze for licensing that sees supply chains grow increasingly complex.

1990s

As international trade barriers come down, higher wages in advanced economies and demand for cheaper gear starts the race offshore. Australian production also heads overseas. The anti-sweatshop movement rises as exploitation is exposed in factories making goods for global brands such as Nike and Gap.

2000s

Cheap and easy off-shore production spurs the rise of fast fashion, based on cheap labour in the global south. Seasons speed up. China becomes the workshop of the world. Between 2000 and 2014 global clothing production doubles.

2010s

Bangladesh becomes the second largest garmentproducing nation, with some 3.6 million garment workers. By 2016, the third biggest is Vietnam.

2013

On April 24, the Rana Plaza garment factory collapses in an outer suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It’s the deadliest factory disaster in history.

2014

Police open fire on striking Cambodian garment workers near Phnom Penh. First Fashion Revolution day.

2017

On January 21, the Women’s March movement sees more than five million people globally take to the streets as “those who believe in a world that is equitable, tolerant, just and safe for all, one in which the human rights and dignity of each person is protected and our planet is safe from destruction”, in the words of the US organisers.

2018

The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund is launched in the US to subsidise legal support for those who have experienced sexual harassment, assault or abuse in the workplace.