Tuesday, April 22, 2014

eight storeys......


Eight Storeys from Emily Yeung on Vimeo.

In light of Fashion Revolution Day this Thursday and my increasing awareness of how opaque supply chains are in the fashion industry, my focus on issues surrounding the ethical sourcing of the clothes we wear is no surprise.


This video, which I discovered through Twitter and the team behind the Australian and New Zealand Fash_Rev handle, is running on a number of levels for me.

First - the obvious. The 'building' created with cups of paint (?) and polystyrene demonstrating the haphazard and dangerous way the Rana Plaza was extended to meet the increasing demand of an incredibly hungry fashion industry.

Second, and perhaps the more subtle level. The way the devastation wrought by the falling sewing machine (heavily symbolic) spills the paint becomes something of raw beauty by the end of the film, when the fabric that was underneath the collapsed 'building' becomes the basis for something new.

It works like a metaphor in a way. The Rana Plaza tragedy is the devastation, and now it's up to us to ensure the raw beauty emerges. We do that by asking questions, we do that by demanding transparency, we do that by supporting the people that make our clothes.

kb xx