A Roundup of Fashion Roundtable's Meeting with Extinction Rebellion’s Boycott Fashion Team
By Laura Gibson
On Tuesday 5th November a second meeting was held between Fashion Roundtable as secretariat for The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Textiles and Fashion, leading voices in sustainable fashion and education, and Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) boycott fashion team.
Due to the pre-election period, all parliamentary activity is suspended and the meeting was in fact hosted by the NFP arm of Fashion Roundtable which acts as the secretariat for the APPG for Textiles and Fashion. All points raised will be relayed to the APPG, parliamentary members and incorporated into the Group's sustainability work.
This meeting follows XR Boycott Fashion’s widely publicised disruption of London Fashion Week (LFW) on 13th-17th September 2019, this action followed a letter sent to the BFC (dated 26th July 2019) in which XR stated ‘ [we] have disruptive actions planned during LFW and we will be ending LFW with a funeral finale which will soberly pay respect to the legacy of LFW and put it to rest forevermore. We must pause and reflect on the lives being lost. We sincerely call on you to do the same.’
In a room packed with fashion industry leaders, NGOs, sustainability professionals and researchers we heard from the following speakers:
Katherine Hamnett CBE, Designer, Activist & newly minted Professor at the Open University
Bel Jacobs, Journalist & a member of XR’s Boycott Fashion team
Nina Stevenson, Education for Sustainability Leader at Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF)
Rahemur Rahman, Designer & Advocate
Jodi Muter-Hamilton, Founder of Black Neon Digital & Communications Director at Fashion Roundtable
Tamara Cincik, Founder & CEO of Fashion Roundtable
All agreed with XR that fashion shows as they stand are ‘a circus’ in need of reform BUT it was suggested that LFW needs a ‘recalibration’ rather than a cancellation - a controversial solution or a Call to Action?
Overall the general feeling was of a mountain to be climbed but one that is surmountable if we facilitate structured collaboration across the industry to find solutions and support each other to make these vital changes.
More voices are needed in this discussion so that we do not disenfranchise those across class divides or throw stones while living in glass houses. How can we as an industry who, up until recently had no voice in UK parliament, work together to address these sweeping paradigm shifts that need to be made?
Points discussed included:
Katherine Hamnett has been tirelessly campaigning for a more sustainable fashion industry since the late 80s and is an advocate for organic cotton and policy change across industries, she impressed the vital importance of legislation to support sustainable and ethical brands, SME’s, young designers and craftspeople, to penalise importers who bypass recommendations on sustainable and ethical practises and increased accountability for industry bad practise.
Everyone felt the need for clear information and guidelines for students, designers and consumers; on which fabrics to avoid, what processes damage the environment, how to spot greenwashing and fake info etc.
The need for regulation and unionisation across the fashion and textiles industry.
The increasing use of technology to aid transparency and accountability in the supply chain.
The absolute importance of education to ensure that students understand the impact that design and development can have, the issues in supply chains and end of life of products. London College of Fashion (LCF) have embedded sustainability into their curriculum and shared knowledge is also offered through online learning with a Future Learn collaboration between LCF and Kering.
It was highlighted that consumers are often in the dark on the rights they have regarding the durability of products and that it is important to engage the individuals or groups who feel marginalised or attacked by these discussions.
There was talk of BLACKOUT FRIDAY occuring on Black Friday (29th November) where brands have been challenged to shut their virtual doors and not use social media etc. As consumers we can all question brands on their relationship with Black Friday and why don’t they support Blackout Friday instead - a job for the weekend maybe?
We ended with the important work that remains to be done by Fashion Roundtable’s NFP umbrella regarding their policy work and the evident need for industry support, funding and sponsorship for this work to continue.
However although the incremental changes being proposed and actioned by the speakers and industry wide sustainable leaders were all relevant and admirable, they are not at the rate and scale that XR sees as vital to mitigate the climate emergency or meet the depleting 12 year deadline to cut carbon emissions to net zero in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Can LFW change its ways but not be eradicated completely to mitigate the climate risk? How can we as an industry address the waste and overconsumption?
Can we use the tech that London is famous for to make LFW the most sustainable Fashion Week in the World?
It is up to us as an industry to collaboratively create solutions to these challenges and transition to a carbon and waste free industry - we don’t have much time to action these changes so we need to get cracking!
Fashion Roundtable is committed to supporting wide reaching reforms across the fashion and textiles industry and to facilitate the industry working together with policy makers, NGOs, educators and campaigners to meet the changes required. We know within the fashion industry these discussions are taking place, but perhaps not at the rate that Extinction Rebellion see as vital. We aim to support a reform in a way that is positive and can have long lasting benefit to the fashion industry and wider society.
Laura Gibson is a sustainability consultant, a Masters student at Cambridge University and also a researcher for Black Neon Digital, working on the Garment Traffic Light System initiative that is developing tools to support the fashion industry and consumers to make more informed choices.
Greatest thanks to the venue holders BOTTLETOP, whose #Togetherband popup venue was the perfect location to hold this discussion and delivered a firm reminder of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the hopeful future that we are working towards.
We need your help and input on these issues to ensure that your voice is heard.
Please take 5 mins to complete this survey and have your say…