On 23 April, Marina Spadafora's new book came out, written together with journalist Luisa Ciuni, entitled La rivoluzione comincia dal tuo armadio. For the occasion, we interviewed the coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement.
The world of fashion needs a revolution. And the coronavirus pandemic could be the right opportunity to rethink the entire sector. This is the view of Giorgio Armani, who in a letter to Women's Wear Daily (WWD) stated "that this crisis is a wonderful opportunity to slow down and realign everything." And it is also the view of Marina Spadafora, who believes that "people will come to realise that the pace at which we have produced until now has become unsustainable."
Italian coordinator of Fashion Revolution, a global movement that aims to raise consumer awareness about their purchasing habits and campaigns for a fairer, more ethical fashion industry, Spadafora has for years been making "fashion with a mission": sustainability. Environmental, of course. But also social and economic.
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The road towards a more ethical fashion still seems long, but everyone can and must play their part. It all begins with becoming properly informed. On that note, on 23 April 2020 a book arrives, written by Marina Spadafora and journalist Luisa Ciuni, entitled La rivoluzione comincia dal tuo armadio. Tutto quello che dovreste sapere sulla moda sostenibile, published by Solferino libri. It tells the story of the state of the art of the fashion industry, the advent of fast fashion and its impact on consumption, the consequences of overproduction and waste, and the urgency of circular economy models that reconcile profit and equity.
The official launch is planned for Friday 24 April, as part of a webinar on the Zoom platform – "It was supposed to be a physical event but we must thank technology" – for Fashion Revolution Day, during which Fashion Revolution Italia, together with its coordinator, will discuss sustainable fashion, the role of consumers, introduce a map for sustainable shopping in Italy, and present the forthcoming book, which will be available at newsstands from 15 May. The appointment is at 18.30, on the platform or live on the Facebook page of Fashion Revolution Italia.
Given the exceptional nature of the times we are living through, it is natural to wonder what will happen next, what marks Covid-19 will leave on the fashion industry and on all those countries that depend on it. But it also prompts the thought that this could be a great opportunity to reflect on more sustainable solutions at every level. Because, as the book's authors say, the revolution begins in our wardrobe. We took stock of the situation with Marina Spadafora.
Marina Spadafora, what do you think will become of the future of fashion after the coronavirus pandemic?
I believe that at many levels people will come to realise that the pace at which we have produced until now has become unsustainable. There is a quantity of clothing and merchandise in circulation on the market that is neither justified nor necessary. I think the volume of production will decrease: this lockdown has made people realise how many things they have in their wardrobe and how little, in reality, they need to buy new things.
I also hope that fast fashion will calm down and, above all, that — as in the letter Armani wrote to WWD — luxury will stop chasing fast fashion by producing enormous numbers of collections. Making so many collections and releases puts a terrifying strain on those who work in them, both in the design studio and among those who produce, but above all it follows a fashion model that needs to be revisited.
I also hope that consumers have done some soul-searching and have realised that the way we consume must also change: it must be a more ethical, more informed form of consumption. Before we give money to anyone, let's find out about them: let's not go and buy from just anyone simply because we fancy a new item. Every time we give our money to someone we become complicit, co-architects of dynamics in which we perhaps do not recognise ourselves. If we go and buy from people who pollute, who do not pay fairly, who generally behave badly, we put ourselves on the same level as them. Enough with financing these realities. Who made my clothes: we need to start doing this soul-searching and stop for a moment.
I also think that the whole way of producing collections will change, because we will be experimenting with this new digital format. If it works, it could be a new way to present collections and runway shows, and consequently pollute less. Perhaps it is a little less glamorous but it is certainly more sustainable.
Do you think big brands have an interest in taking this kind of action?
I have already met companies and start-ups that produce photographs and renderings of garments that look as though you could touch them. I think technology can come to our aid. It is one thing if one sticks to the canonical two seasons a year, but if the buyer has to travel constantly it becomes very polluting and costly for those who have to meet the expenses.
In his letter to WWD, Giorgio Armani stated "that this crisis is a wonderful opportunity to slow down and realign everything." Is a return to slow fashion a prerequisite for more sustainable fashion?
It is one of the aspects of sustainable fashion. We need to invent a method that respects the planet and people and that makes a profit, because nobody is talking about charity. The textile industry worldwide today employs more than 300 million people; fashion employs 70 million. We produce 156 billion garments a year. We need to stop and understand how we want to move forward, because we are using the planet's non-renewable resources. We exhaust them by July now. It is as if we thought we had goodness knows how many planets at our disposal, but that is not the case. We need to get ourselves in order.
According to the report The State of Fashion, produced by the consultancy firm McKinsey and the magazine The Business of Fashion, there will be a kind of Darwinian selection after the coronavirus emergency.
Certainly. When things reopen we will see who has survived and who has not. There will be a hecatomb across all sectors. Large groups with broad shoulders and significant financial foundations will probably make it through, whereas I am afraid there will be a massive die-off of small companies.
There will also be very severe consequences for all those countries that live off the clothing industry.
Yes, there have already been terrible scandals. Fast fashion companies started saying they did not want to collect the goods already produced or pay for them. A video came out of a representative of the textile industry in Bangladesh who spoke out saying that it has been years they have been working with them, producing for them, years they have been offering them the best price, and now it is precisely those companies that are abandoning them like that. In these countries there are clearly no social safety nets or social security. These people are literally dying of hunger. Some fast fashion houses collected everything and paid. But not all of them.
I once came across this headline: Does fast fashion have to die for the environment to live? Can fast fashion and the environment be reconciled?
If fast fashion continues to be made the way it is made, then I agree with that headline. With the prices it charges, it is inevitable that fast fashion does not respect environmental rules, especially in countries where those rules practically do not exist. To have a t-shirt for two euros means it is made in any way possible: without wastewater filters, without respecting the type of dye that should be used, which costs a little more because it does not contain heavy metals. These garments should not even be imported; they should be stopped at customs.
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In this sense, what can institutions do? The impression is that regulation is lacking.
Absolutely, right now everything is on a voluntary basis. It seems like an open secret. Just as in the cosmetics and food industries it is compulsory to list the ingredients and origins of foods or creams, in the fashion industry we as consumers should also have the opportunity to see on the label what is in our garment, how and where it was made. In a perfect world it would be wonderful to have a QR code that tells the story of the garment, how much the people who made it were paid. Right now that is science fiction. We would need far greater transparency.
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Is there a way to make sustainable fashion a little more democratic? Not everyone today can afford sustainable garments, which are necessarily somewhat more expensive.
This is a bit of an urban myth. For seven years I was creative director of Altromercato, with its 300 shops across the country, and we produced very nice, distinctive T-shirts in organic cotton from a producer certified by the World Fair Trade Organization, which is the fair and sustainable trade organisation, and we put them on sale at 25 euros. A long-sleeved top at 25 euros in organic cotton is, in my view, a reasonable price. We need to stop thinking that a T-shirt should cost less than a roll of kitchen paper. That is the problem. We need to restore value to things. The whole concept of what a garment has cost has been completely misrepresented and distorted. Instead of buying five T-shirts at five euros each, you set aside a little more money and buy one that is made sustainably and that perhaps also lasts a little longer in your wardrobe.
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On 23 April your book came out, written together with Luisa Ciuni, La rivoluzione comincia dal tuo armadio. Tutto quello che dovreste sapere sulla moda sostenibile. What are the rules for a more sustainable wardrobe?
You need to buy fewer garments and ones of better quality, so that they stay in your wardrobe longer. Above all, you need to buy things that are made according to principles in line with your own values. Then you need to make your clothes last: if something breaks, let's repair it, not throw it away. If you no longer like something, swap it or give it away, let it go on living. Buy vintage, buy from sustainable brands.
How aware do you think people are about the clothes they buy?
I think that after this crisis they will be far more so, also because we will all be a little poorer and therefore more attention will be paid to the quantity and frequency of purchases. Then Fridays for Future and the Greta movement have also opened people's eyes, and people are, in my view, already more aware.
In what way can technology help us find more ecological paths?
There is a new technology called blockchain, which tracks a garment with a series of pieces of information uploaded at every stage of production. And then, indeed, QR codes on the garment's label, which provide information about that item. These are ways in which technology can be of great help.
Your book is being presented on 24 April, the same day on which, in 2013, the Rana Plaza collapse occurred. Have we learned anything from that moment?
If I look at Fashion Revolution's figures, I would say yes. We started out in 2013 in one country — the United Kingdom — with two very capable women, Orsola De Castro and Carry Somers, who founded the movement; and today we are in 111 countries around the world, talking about it in a very committed way and with a large following. The reach we have had over these years is extraordinary. I think that accident shook a great many consciences and that from that moment there has been a wave that is reaching critical mass.