Promote sustainable alternatives!
Our campaign started with the idea: wouldn’t it be nice if clothing stores were a place where secondhand clothing could find a new life? We’ve set the example in recent months by collecting clothes and giving them away. Of course we’d like our example to be followed, but a good start would be to at least let our clothes hang.
Another interpretation of this could, for example, be a fashion library: renting out clothing, either for a fixed price per item of clothing, or in the form of a subscription. We see similar initiatives being extremely popular on a small scale – an innovative company that would launch this on a national scale would be loved by the public.
Changes in the production line could matter a lot as well. Consider the use of organic cotton, hemp and bamboo, without genetic modification or chemical pesticides. Stop using animal wool – not only because of the high emissions, but also because of the exploitation of the animals. Keep collecting clothes, and use the fabric from discarded clothes to make new clothes.
Make sure that new clothing is recyclable: don’t use chemicals in the production, and create clothing out of one type of material, or ensure that the different materials can be separated easily. In other words: promote sustainability not just to the consumer, but also to the industry itself.
Ensure that various quality marks continue to monitor production, transport and retail for sustainability and human rights. Don’t buy or sell anything without knowing 100% sure where it came from.
Do what is necessary!
One way or another, work towards the ultimate goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions to survivable levels, and creating a world where globally human rights are put above profit. To this end we demand: do what is necessary!
1. Tell the truth!
The fast fashion industry is fighting to maintain its credibility by marketing itself as more sustainable than it actually is. We know that the companies often lie and cheat. There are no standards to regulate them.
We demand honesty and transparency throughout the entire production chain.
2. Stop overproduction!
Even thrift stores are overwhelmed with excess clothing. Full bags are thrown away every day because production is so high. Ultimately, all this clothing ends up in landfills, while depleting vast amounts of natural resources.
We demand an end to the overproduction of clothing and the constant creation of new trends that cause wasteful consumption.
3. Treat employees fairly!
Fast fashion is possible thanks to the cheap purchasing prices of products that are transported all over the world, because it is still possible to exploit workers abroad in industry and retail.
We demand fair wages, safe working conditions and humane employment conditions for all workers in both the production chain and the store.
4. Promote sustainable alternatives!
Many clothing stores collect clothes under the pretense that they’d be recycled. With the Guerrilla Fashion action, we hang secondhand clothing on the racks to give away to customers. Research shows that in the branches where we do this, those clothes end up in the trash.
We demand that clothing companies actively promote the wearing of secondhand clothing as well as other sustainable alternatives.