The image shows a group of five people standing in front of a projector screen at St Paul's Stoke Newington; from Left to Right: Rebecca Dallmaier, Kate Tailyour, Sara Arnold, Ronaé Fagon, and Chesca Walton. 

“The fashion industry creates more pollution than aviation and shipping combined.”

Sustainable Hackney’s June film screening was a double feature, showing UNTOLD: Inside the Shein Machine and Unstitched. In UNTOLD, reporter Iman Amrani explores how Shein has mastered social media marketing to become a global fast fashion phenomenon. With rumours spreading of their exploitative working conditions, hidden cameras go inside factories for the first time. Shein is headquartered in Hackney and employs over 40 people in the borough. Unstitched is a further film shedding light on the unsustainable impacts of fast fashion but offers solutions from a range of change-makers.

Both films expertly outlined the enormity of issues created by the fashion industry as a whole: polluting materials, huge land requirements, and levels of waste ending up in landfills. They also explored the additional problems fast fashion creates, including worker exploitation, unrealistic deadlines in supply chains, and poor-quality garments that can often only be worn once. The films also shed light on some steps the industry is taking to reduce the problem, such as more education for designers, research into more sustainable production techniques, and an increase in rental options.

After the screening, we were joined by a panel of fashion sustainability experts to share their insights into the fashion industry and discuss a way forward. Our panellists included: Ronaé Fagon, an interdisciplinary creative with a background in womenswear design. Ronaé is dedicated to creating an approachable, accessible, and inviting dialogue about what it means to slow down our fashion habits and hold companies accountable. Rebeca Dallmaier, a fair fashion campaigner and community organiser for Remake in the UK. Committed to supporting garment workers and amplifying their demands, Rebeca also collaborates with the Awaj Foundation, a grassroots labour rights NGO in Bangladesh. Sara Arnold, a lecturer at London College of Fashion and Falmouth University on fashion, degrowth, activism and ethical business. She’s the co-founder and lead coordinator of Fashion Act Now and their latest initiative, OurCommon.Market. And Kate Tailyour, Head of Design at Nomads Clothing, and a champion of ethical fashion for many years, including with her own eponymous Ethical womenswear label and as a designer for ethical British brand Sahara. She is passionate about making fashion better so that it can be enjoyed whilst respecting the planet and the people making the garments.

All our panellists agreed that, rather than boycotting fast fashion, we need a complete rethink on how we consume in the UK and the value we place on items we already own. Furthermore, we need to pause and think about the levels of equality we are happy for different populations to be living in around the world if we are to stop exploiting the labour and resources of others in the long term. It was also acknowledged that the time to act is now, as we have already seen a huge reduction in planetary biodiversity and have microplastics embedded in our ecosystems. The is hope for a better future, but it will require all of us to put in the effort to think before we buy, and if we really do need something consider remaking, recycling, or shopping second-hand first. 

What can you do next:

• Read Less is more by Jason Hickel and Loved Clothes Last by Orsola de Castro
• Mend, transform and renew your existing clothes with Sojo
• Join the campaign with Say No to Shein