DOES SUSTAINABLE FASHION TRULY MATTER

STYLE

DOES SUSTAINABLE FASHION
TRULY MATTER?

#FashionRevolutionWeek2019 #Singapore

On 27th April 2019, I joined a fashion show called the 'Fashion Revolution Week' with its purpose to support sustainable fashion. Firstly,
I was unsure of what it truly means, so I took a little research about it. In fact, sustainable fashion is a movement that stands
for the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Some might wonder what it truly means
and my curiosity did not stop there.

I used to think that sustainable fashion only matters up to addressing fashion textiles or products. But surprisingly, it was not just that!
As I was browsing on Youtube, I stumbled upon a documentation video that explicitly shows hundreds of women who'd rather chose to become
sex workers rather than working in a factory. During the interview, the host once asked a lady who previously was a sex worker.
She mentioned that the brand initially approached her to work at a factory knowing that she would earn enough income that would be sufficient to pay
for her kids and monthly rent. However, she felt extremely devastated knowing that they were not allowed to take a break and was a paid
for a minimum total of wages. Can somebody tell me how tragic it is?! My heart was crushed while watching the video. Believe it or not,
women in Cambodia were forced to work hard every day and underpaid with an extremely low amount of salary that
wasn't even enough to pay anything rather than food. This brand has completely fake the report stating that the workers received average wages.

The video got me thinking how myself, as a consumer truly acknowledge and think the other side of the world? Knowing there are
thousands of underage kids and girls are working so hard to make cheap clothes just for the sake of the beauty our appearance? I believe
that everyone is born free and equal, and have the rights to feel loved, too. Therefore, I had proudly taken part in this project,
to become the model to showcase one of the collections that support sustainable fashion. They tried their best to mix and match
used clothes on the models during the fitting day and to proudly present the best books on the runway. Sometimes small act matters.

It does not mean that we can't buy new clothes, but we believe that we should maximize every piece that we have.
I believe a small step starts from a deeper understanding. Therefore, I'd love to encourage my readers
to think, support, and consciously take part in this movement!

#SustainableFashion