Fashion Revolution - WE ARE THE REVOLUTION

April 17, 2021

The birth of a revolution is powerful.  A revolution must inspire deep change, not just talk or virtue signalling.  It must not be left to die out either. Revolutions historically have been born from mass revolts—the ‘proletariat’ demanding fair treatment, rights, non-exploitative working conditions. This revolution, the fashion revolution, is sparked on behalf of workers. 

 

We need to work toward a system wherein workers have a voice and have agency in this revolution.  Only then will there be equitable trading practices. Unlike a physical revolution where there is an uprising and social upheaval, in fair trade, workers are continuing to work, and more equitable relationships are being developed one step at a time within an existing system. 

 

Those of us, individuals and companies, who work in fair trade are all working for the revolution, one step at a time.  For example, every time we at Mehera Shaw balance our budget to ensure workers get paid on time instead of allocating the funds for something else, every decision we make to protect worker rights, every time we postpone an expansion in favor of ensuring on time payments, when we give 3 month lead times to customers to ensure we can meet worker needs and not demand overtime, when we request a 50% deposit on bulk orders, these are all conscious decisions we take to ensure we are meeting fair trade labor standards and are doing right by our workers first.  It takes daily commitment to ethical standards.  It requires daily prioritising. 

 

We also need to recognise that fair trade is trade—equitable working agreements. Fair trade is not charity. Fair trade is not hero-preneurship. We who work in this field are not heroes or saviors.  Fair trade is trade.  Workers earn their salaries.  It is a reciprocal relationship for the benefit of all parties.  Workers do have choices about where they work and for whom they work.  When they choose to work with fair trade enterprises, it is because it is a mutually beneficial relationship.  Fair trade ensures labor standards wherein workers have bargaining power, transparent work agreements, have clear understanding of contracts, and can demand fair treatment and pay.  It is a necessary step in the revolution.

 

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Fashion Revolution has rightly called the worlds’s attention to workers and to the need for transparency.  Another necessary step, ’I Made Your Clothes’ uses photos to make workers visible.  It is a powerful message.  The campaign calls on us all to demand transparency in supply chains with the goal of protecting worker rights.  It has had a powerful impact in terms of raising awareness of the issues.

 

Photos of workers drive the campaign, but taken out of context, photos can, at times, mean that well-intended social media and dialog about workers overlooks worker’s voices—their agency.  We need to realise that the revolution needs to include the voice of the workers themselves.  Rather than priding ourselves on giving them ‘great jobs’, sharing their photos and talking about them, we collectively need to include them in the discussion.  Workers deserve to have their privacy respected and their voices heard. 

 

But even within fair trade, it is a challenge to create means for workers’ voices to be heard in the broader context.  When parties other than the workers themselves are advocating for revolution, we must be very cautious for we about speaking for an other. 

 

I say this because I sit on both sides—I am the creative director of a Western brand in the Global North. I am also the executive director of an artisan based manufacturing company in the Global South.  I know our workers personally.  I have been to their families’ weddings, seen their children grow up, been present to celebrate family moments and mourn the loss of family members.  Our workers are people like you and me.  But unlike you and me who have a great deal of agency in terms of brand promotion and representation, workers may lack formal education and are not full participants in the ‘big picture’. They do not have full agency.

 

We all need to be careful when representing workers and sharing stories about them.  Fair trade also means protected trade.  We shouldn’t need protected trade in 2021.  The term ‘fair’ should be redundant in 2021.  The term ‘trade’ should already be understood as meaning a mutually beneficial, reciprocal relationship.  But this is not the case.  So the revolution is still in the hands of those with agency.  We all need to use our ‘voice’ wisely, respect those without a voice and work to form strong, supportive, sustainable relationships in our supply chains so that workers will be visible, heard and respected.  To collaborate, to see both sides, to learn, adjust, and work toward transparency.  What we are working toward are equitable relationships in which all participants have agency.  We are working toward a time when workers are the voice of the revolution.

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