Venetia Falconer | Producer, Presenter, Sustainability Activist

Nothing quite like the feeling of a long, blustery

It was encouraging to see the realities of fast fa

It was encouraging to see the realities of fast fashion and slave labour as front page news on @thesundaytimes yesterday. The undercover report unearthed workers in Leicester making clothes for @Boohoo are being paid £3.50 per hour. These wages are illegal. Minimum wage for age 25+ in the UK is £8.72.⁣
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Boohoo have said: “We are taking immediate action to investigate how our garments were in their hands, and we will ensure our suppliers immediately cease working with this company.” But if their history is anything to go by, these assurances mean nothing. This isn’t the first time they’ve been outed for this exploitation.⁣
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@LabourBehindTheLabel have repeatedly called on Boohoo to improve working conditions in their supply chain. Despite some engagement with Boohoo on these topics, they have failed to take any meaningful action.⁣
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Today @NastyGal have claimed to have a “zero tolerance approach to incidences of modern slavery.” But where’s the action? They’ll stop working with the factories that have hit the headlines and replace them with new factories that allow them to keep over-producing the planet polluting unethical garments, under slave labour. ⁣
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In summer 2019, Mary Creagh and the Environmental Audit Committee published the Fixing Fashion report (which is well worth a read), but these were all rejected by the UK parliament. The Committee also called upon Boohoo to engage with the trade union Usdaw as a priority and recognise unions for its workers. But nothing was done. ⁣
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And it’s not just Boohoo brands. All fast fashion is built on oppression and exploitation. You only need to glance over the #PayUp tracker lists to understand that this is an industry wide problem. ⁣
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For more on what you can do, please swipe up to the resources in my stories.

Fashion and greenwashing is a huge, nuanced conver

Fashion and greenwashing is a huge, nuanced conversation. It’s not necessarily entirely negative, as it could be the catalyst for long-lasting and ethical change. More on this in the next few weeks. But in the mean time, there are some important things to bare in mind:⁣
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1. You cannot buy your way to sustainable fashion⁣
2. Conscious consumption looks different to different people. Some folks will boycott fast fashion altogether, others will put their pound to ecological ranges. I’m not here to judge anyone on either practice, but rather to encourage more consideration around what and who we are supporting. ⁣
3. If you’re able to speak to these brands directly and you feel safe doing so, use that privilege to interrogate them on their practices, insisting that they do better. ⁣
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Transparency is a good place start, but it does not sustainable fashion make. ⁣
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I‘ve compiled a google document that I’ve shared with a few influencers called ‘Questions To Ask Fashion Brands’. It’s a digital document and I’m happy to share it with you, just lemme know. The full resources will be linked in my stories ✨

Enough of the billionaires asking for bail-outs an

Enough of the billionaires asking for bail-outs and denying their responsibility to the people making their clothes. ⁣
#PayUp. We are tired of your bullsh*t. ⁣
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ACTIONABLE STEPS WE CAN TAKE⁣
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1. Sign the #PayUp Petition. ⁣
2. Call these brands out⁣
3. Show support to...:⁣
@Remakeourworld⁣
@CleanClothesCampaign⁣
@LabourBehindTheLabel ⁣
@Asia_Floor_Wage_Alliance ⁣
@GarmentWorkerCenter⁣
@One_Billion_Rising⁣
@PullUpForChange ⁣
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Tomorrow evening at 5pm BST, I will be interviewing Ayesha Barenblat (founder and CEO of @RemakeOurWorld) via IG LIVE to discuss Remake’s viral #PayUp campaign, this billionaire nonsense and the intersection of fashion, exploitation and racism. Hope to see lots of you there!⁣

From luxury brands like Marc Jacobs showcasing can

From luxury brands like Marc Jacobs showcasing candy coloured dreadlocks on mostly white models, to Gucci’s (since withdrawn) Blackface jumper, to fast fashion companies stealing from BIPOC cultures to make clothes for which their garment workers weren’t even paid a fair living wage, to influencers building mini-empires from Blackfishing, the fashion industry has a track record of stealing what isn’t theirs to take. Not to mention huge businesses copying designs from small brands. ⁣
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As a white person, I have definitely culturally appropriated in the past, mainly through ignorance.⁣
We need to constantly be checking our privilege and interrogating our choices when it comes to the hair styles we choose, the slang that we speak, the fillers we insert, the amount of fake tan that we apply, the clothes that we wear (that includes at festivals), the experiences that we have and the drugs that we take. ⁣
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As we campaign for a new solidarity economy in fashion, we have to collectively dismantle systemic racism. When it comes to fashion and trends, we need to ask ourselves: are we appreciating, amplifying and financially supporting these cultures? Or are we ripping them off to seem more cool, better travelled or more spiritually minded?⁣
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For a full list of resources, please head to the corresponding highlight on my page. ***Edit: the first definition in slide 4 should read: Blackface is makeup used by non-Black performers for playing Black roles***

The very fashion brands who have claimed solidarit

The very fashion brands who have claimed solidarity with black square posts and supportive slogans, are the same brands who have long exploited BIPOC, feigned inclusivity and have profited from cultural appropriation.⁣
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The past practices have taught us that all they want is our cash and the people who made our clothes are paying the price, 80% of whom are female. [@labourbehindthelabel]⁣
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Many of these brands are refusing to #PayUp for work that was completed pre-pandemic, which further reveals their allyship as performative.⁣
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In the past, I have not spent enough time interrogating the wishy-washy, vague and blasé marketing of ‘sustainable’ fashion brands (eg @reformation) to ensure that they’re dismantling racial capitalism and striving for fair fashion. I am going to do better.⁣
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Without all 3 sustainability pillars prioritised (environment, economic AND social) we do not have a sustainable fashion revolution. Without ethics and inclusivity, we don’t have sustainability. We need to hold brands accountable and insist they do better. Please check out @heysharonc’s brilliant @pullupforchange #PullUpOrShutUp initiative ⁣
Here are a few incredible fashion accounts to follow and support, and there are more listed in the post:⁣
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@remakeourworld⁣
@cleanclothescampaign⁣
@labourbehindthelabel⁣
@ajabarber⁣
@emsladedmondson
@aditimayer⁣
@Melaninass⁣
@PepperYourTalk⁣
@TheSlowFactory