Last week was Fashion Revolution Week, a global movement calling for more awareness and for significant social, environmental and economic changes in the fashion industry. What does it involve?

It all came about following the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, a building that housed five textile factories. Tragically, 1,134 people lost their life and more than 2,500 people were injured. That disaster sparked the launch of this association whose mission it is to raise awareness among consumers. Every year it organises numerous activities, including Fashion Revolution Week aimed at spreading the word and promoting knowledge about the other side of the industry. This year’s event, that has just come to a close, focused on the relationship between human rights and nature.

Do you think that these kinds of initiatives are helping to pave the way for progress in this field?

We have seen positive changes in the industry over recent years, but production systems, abuses of human rights and environmental degradation are still common occurrences, and there is still a lot that can be done. Despite the fact that a large number of consumers have become more aware of these problems, many people remain uninformed, unaware that their clothing may be contributing to human exploitation and the climate crisis.

Is that really the case?

Factories, transportation and waste are highly contaminating sources of pollution for the planet. Also, if we look inside our wardrobes, we will probably find a lot of clothes that we hardly wear. So, before we buy, we should ask ourselves whether we really need that garment and, before we discard it, whether we can turn it into something else or give it a new life.

However, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

There are some factors that can help change the inertia we have experienced until now, such as the declaration of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or social movements like Fashion Revolution Week. They question the industry’s modus operandi by demanding a commitment to change throughout the supply chain. Consumers are also more informed and aware of environmental issues and are demanding profound changes in brand transparency; they can see through greenwhasing.

It is clear that consumers play a key role in this paradigm shift. How has their relationship with brands changed?

The increase in mutual interaction has led to the creation of communities that have frequent contact and share information between parties.  This allows consumers to strengthen their link with the values of a brand’s identity. If a brand becomes more humane and transparent, the gap between them and the consumer will shrink. They need each other to recreate and convey their own history and identity. Therefore, consumers will increasingly seek out brands they feel they can genuinely trust.

One way to build trust is by changing the model.

The processes won't change very much, but the way brands produce and market their products must change. We also need to seek alternatives ways to manage clothing at the end of its life cycle: Reduce, reuse, recycle, recover. These ideas must help transform the industry so that it is fully based on the circular economy model. 

Can small businesses in the industry adapt to and survive a much more expensive model than the traditional one?

They might struggle to begin with, but as the number of companies following sustainability criteria increases, prices will begin to fall and they will be able to grow. Quite a few have already started running their business with these criteria and it is going well. They work with sustainable materials and follow criteria that favour more local production, making smaller collections and print lines.  Big companies, by contrast, need to transform their business model –which currently prioritises overproduction in favour of mass consumption– from the inertia acquired over many years, so it will cost them more. However, they should be setting an example to the rest of the industry to be more transparent.

Do you think the pandemic can bring about a change whereby local fashion gains popularity over global fashion?

It is possible that the industry’s new order might spark this kind of shift. Although small productions were at a disadvantage a few years ago compared to international giants, there are now new chips on the table. Local production, digitisation, craftsmanship, or slow consumption –increased durability and therefore higher quality– are some of the keys to sustainability for the future of the sector. Not everyone is going to move away from fast fashion, but you will be able to support other business models such as second-hand clothing, rentals, vintage or buying from local designers.

As the industry transitions, communication experts will need to adapt their discourse. How are these future communicators being trained?

At the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Communication Sciences, we offer two subjects on two bachelor’s degrees that address all these issues. Students are increasingly interested in discovering how brands operate –to enable transparent communication– and are surprised by what they find out. On the other hand, this coming academic year I will be leading the Master’s Degree in Communication, Brand Management and Sustainability in the Fashion Industry, with the aim of giving future fashion brand communication managers the tools and knowledge they need to go on and work in internal departments of fashion houses or for agencies specialised in fashion communication.