Planning a shopping spree? Ask yourself these two important questions irst

The consumerist world we find ourselves in has made us all guilty of buying clothing items that we might not necessarily need. What’s worse is that, most of the time, we don’t even consider where the item comes from. Karl Azzopardi spoke with Tamara Fenech, who coordinates Fashion Revolution in Malta in order to pull back the consumerist curtain and get a peek of what truly goes on in the fashion industry. Having completed her Master in Sustainable Fashion, Tamara now works as a sustainable brand strategist where she is realising her vision of a more sustainable future.

Nowadays, finding ‘ nothing to wear’ for an upcoming event could easily trigger what feels like an existential crisis, because God forbid anyone sees you wearing the same outfit two weekends in a row. So, what harm would a little shopping spree do apart from testing the limits of our ever-expanding wardrobes? There is more to it than we think. Consumerism has derailed us from asking two important questions when making a new purchase; ‘Who made my clothes?’ and ‘ Do I need this?’

These are the principles which Fashion Revolution promotes as Tamara Fenech – coordinator of the movement in Malta – told The

Malta Independent while describing what it takes to make the fashion industry more sustainable. Indeed the Fashion Revolution website reads : “We love fashion. But we don’t want our clothes to exploit people or destroy our planet.”

A global movement with a global mission

Fashion Revolution is a global initiative that aims to educate consumers on the processes that lie behind their clothes and encourage stakeholders to make more humane choices in their production methods.

It all started after the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh back in April 2013 which killed about 1,134 people and endangered approximately another 2,500. While Fashion Revolution is a year-round initiative, in April all 60 countries in which the movement operates host a weeklong round of activities in order to commemorate this devastating incident.

This is known as Fashion Revolution Week wherein representatives promote a more sustainable fashion industry through panel discussions, screenings, repair stations, workshops and other events. In doing so, they also encourage others to host their own events throughout the year, which has proven to be successful.

Tamara explained that the main campaign during this week is a social media campaign wherein consumers are encouraged to ask the question ‘Who made my clothes?’

The way people engage with the campaign is by turning their clothes inside out, taking a picture and posting it on social media, tagging the brand of the item directly and asking them the question by using the hashtag ‘#whomademyclothes.’

“The idea is to mobilise the company and give an answer which, in turn, makes the supply chain super transparent. In 2018 there were nearly 4,000 brands that responded with the answer #IMadeYourClothes which goes to show that since 2013 brands have mobilised as consumers have created enough pressure for them to reply.”

She added that in her seven years of working within the industry she has seen a massive shift in the way companies are responding to what she believes started with consumer demand.

“That is what I love about Fashion Revolution. It gave the power to the people, to the consumers, so they can understand their rights. If we demand a difference from companies they will respond because they need to please the consumer.”

However, she pointed out that this campaign is only the first step as there are still some barriers that need to be overcome. The whole idea of sustainability is to work with all the multi-stakeholders needed to drive it forward.

“We are the NGO sector, then there is the civil society sector – the consumer – and then there is the government which, I believe, is definitely the biggest barrier so far as we are nowhere close to reaching our 2020 targets.”

She went on to say that locally, there aren’t many incentives in place for businesses to be able to drive themselves in a more sustainable framework.

“If there are more incentives for companies – for example if their packaging is more environmentally friendly they can get some subsidies, if there are certain policies in place to encourage businesses to engage in sustainability, then we could be able to hit our targets faster, and in a collective manner,” Tamara argued.

Getting informed and taking action

Social media has been a great asset in spreading Fashion Revolution’s message which is why they capitalised on it. In fact, the previously mentioned social media campaign is also used as an indicator to measure the impact that they are having on others.

Tamara believes that social media has empowered people with information and the right to know. “When you see the information that is online, it shocks people in a way that mobilises action.”

She recommended watching ‘True Cost’ on Netflix, which paints a holistic picture as to why the industry is causing so much damage by revealing the numerous processes the fast fashion industry is driven by.

“From the harvesting of material to the finished product, the amount of stages and hands that one piece of clothing passes through before it gets to our wardrobe is just crazy. So far we have not been educated with such information and when things are so cheap and disposable we don't think of these processes.”

This is where Fashion Revolution comes in. It provides the knowledge required on these internal processes and also on the action that one can take in order to better the situation as “at the end of the day, taking action and changing one’s behaviour is what matters.”

Tamara admitted that changing behaviour is a long process that even she struggled with. However, what helped her make more conscious decisions was asking the question ‘Do I need it?’

“Nowadays, I wouldn’t buy from certain shops but sometimes I still catch myself consuming things I don’t need. For example, I saw a pair of sustainable shoes and I wanted to buy them, but did I need them? Maybe not… There is no point in investing in sustainable clothes if you buy them at a rate where you are going throw them away so fast as well.”

However, she supports the idea that sustainable fashion items are still the better option. “If you have an organic cotton or normal cotton T-shirt, buy the former and if it is more expensive that’s because it is the true cost of the item, because the €5 one is a complete farce.”

The idea that cheaper means a better bargain is an example of the consumerist mentality that Fashion Revolution seek to abolish. “Cheaper clothes are probably bad quality. So, it would be smarter to invest in better quality as it makes you want to take care of that product for longer,” Tamara explained.

Asked about her opinion on second-hand stores, she said that one still has to proceed with caution since this industry has grown four-fold. “A lot of consumers are using second-hand as an excuse to discard their clothes in order to be able to buy even more fast fashion rather than downsizing their wardrobe,” she added.

It might come as a shock to many, but when a second-hand store – especially in highly populated cities like London – has an oversupply of items, what is not sold is shipped to Africa. Citizens then opt to buy these items instead of going to local markets as they cost only a few cents which, in turn, causes local tailors and shops to go bankrupt. In addition to this, what does not get sold ends up in their landfills and fabrics don’t disintegrate or decompose.

As Tamara puts it, “we are basically taking our waste and chucking it onto someone else’s land.”

She suggested that, in Malta, the better option is to donate clothes to places where clothes go directly to the people, like Dar Merħba Bik or refugee camps, as this prolongs the life of clothes.

Fashion Revolution in Malta

Tamara started following Fashion Revolution from day one and she started volunteering during her time in Berlin where she was studying for her Master in Sustainable Fashion Design.

In 2018, she was planning a visit to Malta during Fashion Revolution week and together with her cousin she thought of hosting a discussion and screening. To be able to that there needed to be a country coordinator that managed the campaign in Malta and she took on the role.

At the time she was still based in Berlin so she required the help of people living in Malta but thanks to the digital world today this was all possible.

“Nothing would have happened without the volunteers. Even though I brought it, without them I would not have been able to do it,” she said. “I did not expect to get such an amazing response from volunteers and people willing to be part of this movement on a hands-on basis. It is so amazing to see that they were waiting for something to happen, to be a part of something.”

She believes that Malta has a lot of potential to be a sustainable island. “If you look at our past we find tailors and shoemakers, which are mechanisms that have always been a part of our culture, we have just forgotten about them. And while the older generation is still quite aware of them, they may have lost touch with it along the way because of this mad world we are living in.”

Currently there are around seven members that make up the core team of Fashion Revolution Malta and last week another ten showed interest after a meet-up they organised.

Asked if people need to have a specific skillset, like sewing, in order to join the organisation, Tamara said that there are no skills or backgrounds that are needed to be a part of the team.

“The more diverse the better as it gives us an unbiased perspective for more creative ideas. It just happens to be that if you are volunteering you are interested in certain areas. From our current team, there are about four of us who can sew but it is not mandatory at all. We actually hope that being on our team helps you to learn and spread the message,” she added.

Since Fashion Revolution landed on our islands, the team has hosted a number of initiatives on sustainable fashion ranging from talks, screenings, repair stations and clothes swaps. This was done mainly throughout Fashion Revolution Week where an event accessible to anyone was prepared each day in order to spread the impact.

The feedback seems to have exceeded their expectations as Tamara pointed out that in 2019 over twenty clothes swaps were set-up by people outside of Fashion Revolution.

“That is what we intend to be, we don't intend to organise everything under one umbrella. Far from it, we are here to sow the seeds and anyone else can blossom them.”

Tamara explained that the Fashion Revolution website is equipped with open-source resources for anyone to tap into, such as movies to screen or ideas on how to organise a clothes swap. This ensures that the movement is not micromanaged by Fashion Revolution only because that reduces the impact.

She concluded by encouraging everyone to host their own events for Fashion Revolution Week 2020 (20-26 April). For further information, follow Fashion revolution Malta on fashrev_mlt or get in touch via email on fashrev.malta@gmail.com.