An important date in the modern fashion calendar is Fashion Revolution Week. Organised by Fashion Revolution, Fashion Revolution Week gifts us a period of time to reflect, learn, and progress our understanding of the issues in the fashion industry, and proactive ways we can resolve them. Fashion Revolution Week takes place every year in the week surrounding April 24th – a really important date, but more on that soon. In the meantime lets start with the basics.

What is Fashion Revolution?

Firstly, Fashion Revolution are a global not-for-profit organisation working to transform the fashion industry. Currently Fashion Revolution are the world’s largest fashion activism movement. Key to their mission is to see a fashion industry which “conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit”. And the individuals who make up the organisation come from a range of cultural and industry backgrounds, with a significant portion of the work done by the organisation being carried out by volunteers. What unites all of these individuals is a desire to create change which will result in a fairer and more conscious fashion industry.

Fashion Revolution was founded following the devastating Rana Plaza factory collapse. This tragic event took place on 24 April (back to that important date we mentioned earlier) in 2013. Following the Rana Plaza collapse many of us were compelled to face to harsh realities about global trade, and reassess what we choose to value. If you would like to learn more about Fashion Revolution and the Rana Plaza factory collapse you can do so here.

Fashion Revolution Week

As hinted earlier, Fashion Revolution Week takes place on the week of the anniversary of Rana Plaza. So this year will be taking place 19th – 25th April – this week! The point of Fashion Revolution Week is to allow the global community of activists to come together and work proactively to generate a better fashion industry. Fashion Revolution Week is always an incredible spectacle. It is full of creative workshops, inspiring talks, thought-provoking events, and is NOT to be missed. Find out more about Fashion Revolution Week 2021 and the focus on this year’s events here.

Get Involved

There is always so much to join in with during Fashion Revolution week. From practical workshops, to panel discussions, to motivational talks, theres so much to choose from. Scroll down to see what events we will definitely be attending. Also, check out the full global events listing here, and the Scottish Team’s schedule of events in the featured image.

Ways to get involved in Fashion Revolution Week:

• I Made My Clothes Poster – in order to take part in this activity you need to take a picture of yourself in something you’ve made, while holding up the ‘I MADE MY CLOTHES POSTER’. This is a great way to show off your sewing skills. But as well as that, it also reminds us that we don’t need to rely on poorly produced clothing, which can have enormously negative consequences. Find the poster here, or make your own! And remember to tag Fashion Revolution, and Sew Confident in anything you post.

• Attend an Event – as we said, so much is on during this busy week. Have a look through the events which are taking place and go along to a few. Due to the pandemic nearly all events will take place online, making them as easy as ever to attend – you don’t even need to leave your house. Sign up to an event, pour yourself a cuppa, and sit back and enjoy some incredibly inspiring events.

• Bring a Friend – if there is something you think a friend or family member would enjoy, let them know! One of the key missions for Fashion Revolution Week is to try and reach out to a new audience. Bring you mum, gran, besties, partner, neighbour or work colleague along – the more the merrier.

After Fashion Revolution Week

Fashion Revolution Week is a great way to start your journey to becoming more conscious of the issues the fashion industry faces and proactive ways we are able to tackle them.

An example of a proactive way to counter the ills of the global fashion industry is: nurture your sewing. This is because having a basic understanding of garment construction, and having a sewing skillset, benefits you in numerous ways. These include simple things like being able to mend a distressed garment rather than disposing of it; you are more likely to keep items you make for a long period of time unlike the norm of fast fashion garment production; and being able to sew will likely result in you having a strong personal sense of style meaning you’ll be less easily persuaded to overconsume garments which are tend reliant.

You can always progress any sewing or knitting skills you have started to develop with us at Sew Confident. We have a huge range of classes her at Sew Confident. From arm knitting, to hand embroidery, to alternation classes, of course our online beginners Crafty Zero to Sewing Hero course, and our great Sew Sustainable Classes. Check out all our classes on our website here, and get in touch with any question you may have.