It has to do with something we've forgotten -- that fashion is less about things than it is about ideas. This time last year, more than 1,100 people were killed and over 2,500 injured when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. And since? What has changed? What have you changed?
Fashion by its very nature requires us to challenge the status quo. The Rana Plaza tragedy was a stark reminder of that. Today's status quo demands a more empathetic, less materialistic approach to fashion. Period. When did we stop appreciating the creative process? Stop valuing the artistic side of fashion? When did we decide to compromise basic human life for something to wear? When did Wall Street start calling the shots on what we buy, when, and for how much?
Forget it - those are complicated questions to which the answer does not matter right now. What does matter is life, liberty and the pursuit of individuality of fashion. This goes for everyone. Those who buy, sell, design and sew the fashions on our backs. The pace of governments and industrial change is slow. But your ability to make a decision is not.
People have literally died for the shirt on your back, and until this story gets as real as a Pharrell video, I say FUCK YOU status quo! There's no excuse for turning a blind eye.
Fashion Revolution is an organization with lofty ideas of impacting things like working conditions, environmental impact and fair trade. Join the Fashion Revolution here or on Facebook and Twitter.
Amber Valetta did. Will you? #InsideOut
