Photo: Diane Bondareff, AP Images
On April 24th, 1,152 garment workers (mostly female) were killed when the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh . This event was the tragic centerpiece at yesterday's Fashion 4 Development 3rd Annual First Ladies Luncheon and fashion show at the Pierre Hotel in New York. The global organization brought together fashion luminaries from around the world to discuss accountability in commerce and what global fashion means today.
“A lot of consumers wear our pieces, and they want a story, they want to know who is producing it," said Mary-Ann Kaikai, the Sierra Leone designer of Madam Wokie. "It’s not just about luxury pieces, it’s about who is behind the clothes."
A running theme for many of the featured guests was how to use fashion to engage women as agents of social change. Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel (Saudi princess and philanthropist) spoke about how fashion can be used to alter preconceived notions about her country. “Saudi Arabia’s population is 49 percent women under the age of 30," she said. "They’re very young, globalized, connected by the Internet—and obsessed with global fashion.”
"Fashion encompasses so many industries, from agriculture to communications. The impact is enormous,” said Livia Firth , wife of actor Colin Firth and founder of Eco-Age and the Green Carpet Challenge. “The most urgent thing is traceability of the supply chain. [Rana Plaza] proves that we are so detached from the people who make our clothes. We have to make sure that detachment doesn’t exist anymore—for brands, governments and consumers.”
Firth was honored at the event alongside Donna Karan , Tina Brown, Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate Muhammed Yunus, Livia Firth, and F4D’s founder Evie Evangelou. Honorees spoke out about awareness around gender-based violence, poverty, illiteracy, and the need for collaboration.
“Let’s make all the companies make the declaration: We are exploitation-free companies," said Dr. Muhammed Yunus, founding father of Microcredit. Bangladeshi garment workers are the lowest paid in the world, making a pittance at 11 cents per hour. He noted that a mere $1 increase in a garment’s price could have enormous impact on the wages and livelihoods of the workers. "With this gathering, I hope we will mobilize a movement around the world,” he said, adding jokingly, “I hope I’m dressed all right.”
Later, the F4D fashion show brought together many of these concepts. The runway highlighted bespoke pieces, luxurious fabrics, and indigenous motifs, many composed of local, handmade materials.
Diversity has long been paid lip service in fashion and Evie Evangelou's F4D hopes to unite this social consciousness with environmentally sustainable fashion designers onto a global stage. Let’s hope that their fellow designers follow suit.
Photo: Livia Firth; Photo: Evan Agostini
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