At Remake we often talk about the need to not just be an educated consumer, but also an engaged citizen. Our ability to create positive change in the fashion industry is not limited to our choices as a consumer, but expands to include our capacity as activists to hold brands accountable and push for real revolution in the fashion industry.
On our November 2020 Community Call we unveiled our 2020 Remake Transparency Report and online brand directory. Our founder, Ayesha Barenblatt, talked to us about the need for this report and how it supports our work in holding brands, and the industry accountable. Jessie Ampofo, who manages our Transparency Report, walked us through the metrics and criteria used in the report and why we chose the 5 categories to rank brands performance:
- Traceability & Transparency
- Maker Wellbeing
- Environmental Sustainability
- Sustainable Raw Materials
- Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion
As you navigate the report, it is important to find ways to dig deeper with the information and to engage with brands on where they are making efforts, and also falling short. It is also important to watch the full call here to understand some of the complexities in creating these scorecards and where trends and evolutions are taking place. Some key takeaways:
- Every brand, even the rock stars have a long way to go in terms of their diversity and inclusion efforts.
- Rock stars tend to be smaller brands with engaged leadership and a consolidated supply chain illustrating how scale and sustainability are at odds.
- Most wannabes stay away from the substantive issues of living wages and overproduction to instead focus on capsule collections and small percentages of sustainable materials. A lot of media darlings are guilty of greenwashing.
- Unlike other methodologies, Remake takes an intersectional approach and does not just applaud transparency for the sake of transparency, but rather as an important first step in the right direction.
What can you do with this report? Use it! Read the score cards! Let us know which brands you would like to see added! Engage with brands listed and missing from the report to hold them accountable for their ranking, their efforts, and their opportunities to do better. The report is a living, dynamic tool meant to empower you as a consumer to make better choices, and as an activist to hold brands accountable. Please share it and use it to make informed decisions about your purchases especially as we head into this holiday season.
It is also important to note that our #PayUp work continues with payupfashion.com. In our brand directory you will see highlighted the brands who are currently being petitioned in our #PayUp campaign. Please engage with them and use the hashtag #PayUp to call them to take action. If you haven’t signed the newest version of our #PayUp petition, please sign it here and continue to spread the word!
You have the power as a consumer, and as a global citizen, to empower garment makers and take action on their behalf. Use these tools to take action and encourage others to get involved to make fashion a #forceforgood.
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