Get ready for Fashion Revolution Week

Fashion Revolution Week is right around the corner, and consumers everywhere are getting ready to demand answers. Are you ready to provide them?

This blogpost will help you prepare the thorough and honest answers your consumers deserve.

Read along and prepare to be a revolution ally. We’ll go through what questions you might get, and where thy might be popping in.

Social Media Action

The hashtag questions #WhoMadeMyClothes, #WhoMadeMyFabric and #WhatsInMyClothes can be asked in comment sections, as tags in stories and in posts. The most common channels are Instagram and Twitter.

Fashion Revolution has prepared a line of questions for customers to ask in relation to the three hashtags, but they might also find their way to your DMs or e-mail inbox, so we recommend to give them a read here (pages 28-29). But be prepared to get as specific as absolutely possible.

#WhoMadeMyClothes and #WhoMadeMyFabric

Fashion Revolution provides posters and templates on their website, which you can print out to have your seamstresses, cotton farmers or other employees in the supply chain be photographed with, fill out and share on your own platform. Download them here.

Areas that can be covered in relation these two hashtag questions are:

sourcing countries, suppliers, common worker profile, policies on gender equality, fair pay, modern slavery, and general working conditions.

#WhatsInMyClothes

Where are you sourcing your raw material from and what you’re doing to protect endangered forests and the animals and people living in and relying on them?

Areas you should cover in relation to this specific hashtag include, but are not limited to:

waste, deadstock, landfills, water contamination, carbon emissions, animal welfare, ocean plastic, chemicals use and handling, as well as deforestation.

The focus should especially be on policies, reporting, sourcing, and mapping.

Remember!

Consumer questions aren't dangerous. Even the ones you don’t have an answer to. Answer them honestly, even when the answer is "We don't have that information right now". Just remember to see it as an opportunity to investigate your supply chain and follow up, when you have the requested information.

E-mail Action

Consumers are also encouraged to reach out to brands and fashion companies via e-mail. Fashion Revolution even provides them with a pre-written template. Read it here.

The content specifically revolves around the lack of transparency beyond the first tier of supply chain and urges the brand to publish a list of its suppliers.

Consumers wants to know, what you, as a brand and direct influence, are doing in order to minimize environmental risks and assure that human rights are respected throughout your supply chain.

Fashion Revolution week is only one week a year. So what do you the remaining weeks of the year?

Do your due diligence and practice transparency in your communication and actions.

If you need help with either, we’re here for you. If due diligence is the biggest challenge, you can sign up for Sustainawear Community, our online e-learning platform and sustainable fashion community. Read more here.

If communication is where the shoe pinches, we have a special newsletter series that will help make you a credible and confident CSR communicator in just a short line of e-mails time. Read more here.