This time last year, Rana Plaza, the eight-storey clothes factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 workers and injuring another thousand. Twenty eight European high street brands – including Mango, Matalan and Benetton – were linked to the manufacturers, and the tragedy sparked a global debate about our shopping habits. But a year on, do we care any more about where our clothes from?
Turns out we do. A new study claims that millenials (that’s us, you guys) care more about the ethics behind our clothes than our mums, dads and every other no-good baby boomer. According to The Boston Consulting Group, a global consulting firm, that’s because we’re more keen on 'status currency – the status and values that consumers wish to project through their purchasing decisions'. It goes on to suggest that clothes brands have to convince us young people that we are 'doing good' when we purchase their brands.
To be honest, I didn’t buy this at first. Our generation’s been associated with fast fashion for so long – we’re meant to be the irresponsible kids blowing our student loans and starter salaries on Topshop frocks we’ll only ever wear once, right?
But it makes sense. Our generation’s been called the most cynical on record. We’ve grown up in a troubled economy with a healthy distrust of authority, whether that’s politicians or corporations. It’s telling that the most widespread social phenomenon of our age was the Occupy movement, which basically disowned big banks and companies and looked towards more radical politics for solutions.
It seems that critical disbelief is now being applied towards the fashion industry. You can see it in the widespread cynicism around behind-the-scenes retouching in magazines and advertising campaigns. And that natural scepticism is starting to show in what we buy.
I’ve got a few friends who refuse to step foot in fast fashion stores now. One’s even made a concerted effort to only buy vintage and charity shop purchases. 'I can literally smell the child labour (in fast fashion stores),' she tells me. 'It just grosses me out.'
It's why sustainable fashion designers Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro's first Fashion Revolution Day today is gathering so much pace, too. 'We want everyone to ask who made their clothes by wearing their favourite things inside out and taking a selfie and then Tweet or Instagram it to their favourite brands using the hashtag #insideout,'they told The Debrief last week of the campaign to make people aware of who actually made the clothes they're wearing.
The high street is responding to these sentiments, too, and the critical concerns about global manufacturing. H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, plans to pay a fair living wage to some 850,000 textile workers – because it thought countries weren’t doing enough to raise the minimum wage. It’s also just launched two sustainably-produced collections, Conscious and Conscious Exclusive, earlier this month.
I used to shop the high street in a frenzied daze, walking out of shops with five bags at a time. Now I take a step back and think, 'Do I actually need this? Will this last?' It feels like there’s been a sea change in how we respond to fashion – we’re beginning to prize quality over fast, disposable trends.
For the workers of Rana Plaza, that concern may come too little, too late – but it seems like our generation is finally waking up to the ethics behind our fashion finds. And that can only be a good thing, right?
Follow Zing on Twitter @misszing
Picture: Corbis
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.