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Through my research I stumbled upon a story from 2014 where a shopper found a ‘cry for help’ clothing tag sewn into a Primark dress she had purchased.

This story was rapidly shared on social media with many people commenting that it would make them consider the impact of their shopping habits.

I find this story very interesting as although many people know about the unethical working conditions that take place in fast fashion factories, they still purchase from these brands such as shein and Primark. I found that when consumers are faced with the fact that the garments workers are being exploited first hand they feel more inclined to do something about it and not buy the product.

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My target audience is generation Z which is people between 14 and 28 years old. This is because these are the people that will be taking the lead in the future and therefore are the people that I want to influence through my work on the impact of fast fashion. Alongside this, Gen Z are rapid consumers of fast fashion due to the ever changing fashion trends and accessibility to super cheap clothes from online websites such as Shein.

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Through my works I intend to teach my audience about the fast fashion industry and the impact that it is having on the world around us. I am aiming to create something visual that can influence people to be more aware when shopping without bombarding them with over whelming facts.

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Sustainable shopping is something that I am very passionate about. Through research I’ve been able to find out the sheer impact that fast fashion is having on not only the environment but also on other humans around the world, such as the garment workers.
I think it is a very important message to send as companies often cover their tracks in order to prevent people understanding how unlawful their practise is.

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These Cuban born American artists have created a art instillation that I find to be really interesting. They originally found their materials from the waste bins of second hand goods business. By creating this insulation using the discarded items of daily life I feel the work becomes more relatable.

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In this instillation we can see a giant mound of clothes overhead of nine pairs of legs. The artwork depicts disowned memories through the placement of old prom dresses, Christmas jumpers etc.
I find this piece very moving as it not only shows the strength and value of community through the legs but also reveals the truth behind just how much clothing waste we produce. It made me ask the question of just how many Christmas jumpers must get thrown away before even being worn once.

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This is another one of their works that I absolutely love. I feel it really reflects the idea of excessive consumption through the masses of material used.

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‘Fashion revolution’ is a global network of activists and advocates which formed after the 2013 Rana plaza catastrophe in Bangladesh where a garment factory collapsed killing over 1200 workers. They are advocating simply for good clothes and fair pay.

‘Over the past 10 years, we have been campaigning passionately for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry. We believe in a global fashion industry that conserves and restores the environment and values people over growth and profit’

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They held a fashion revolution week between the 18th and 24th of august where they dug deeper into questioning the industry and the money and power they hold over people. Alongside talks, meetings and interviews they also held mending workshops, clothing swaps and other exhibitions representing the importance of educating those on the fashion industry’s secrets.

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On the 24th April I attended a upcycling workshop in Leicester which was put on by young designer Mariah Esa. Mariah is a young designer that has shown vast commitment to the cause of sustainable fashion. She created original pieces through the use of recycled garments.

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I’m really interested in this campaign as their manifesto is exactly what I want to make more ‘general Knowledge’ through my own work.

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I recently visited the Tate Modern to visit the exhibitions being held there at present. One that I found really interesting was Maria Bartuszová’s work. Her work explores the relationship between people, matter and nature. Although her work subject is not directly in line with my project I wanted to look at the different ways she has created this instillation and her methods of working.

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I really like this piece in particular. She has recreated the image of fabric using plaster casting to create this solid yet delicate object. For me this piece reflects the connection between the world around us and how our touch leaves traces.

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Her work has encouraged me to experiment with new materials that I haven’t used before in my practise. I want my projects finished product to be a piece of hands on art work, one that also leaves a trace of my being.

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Aiko hachisuka is an artist that collects trifled clothes to create stunning sculptures. Her work is a meditation of memory, materiality and domestic labour.
She was initially inspired through watching her mother sew when she was a child.

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I’m really interested in her process as she uses screen printing to get the colour on the fabric and then sits them and creates collage of her found items.

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This week we engaged in a design thinking workshop put on by two members of the BBC. I really enjoyed this workshop as it wasn’t like anything I had done before and therefore it really exercised my creative brain in a new way.
I also liked working in a team as the constant flow of new ideas meant that our final project was stronger and more innovative that what it may have been if we were all working individually.
One task I really enjoyed was the quick sketching of eight ideas with just one minute for each one. This forced me to not over think the ideas and go with the flow, it also encouraged me to visualise what the ideas were rather than just vocally explaining them.
We decided to go with an app called ‘what’s for dinner’, in this app students are encouraged to take a daily picture of their home made meal and upload it, sharing it with their friends and other students. Alongside the picture, the student would upload the cost including the ingredients and recipe. We hope that this would allow students to discover new meals that are cost effective. It would also let users connect with their friends and find a new incentive to cook at home rather than eat out or get a take away.

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Sketch of our idea with some potential app designs. 

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One thing I want to explore further is the ‘life time’ different items of clothing have and how a vintage items life differs from fast fashion.
I wanted to find out why pieces of clothing are important to different people and so decided to carry out some interviews with selected people.

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When I was about 16 my mother gifted me a brown suede jacket and told me that it was very important to her and to make sure I took great care of it. From that moment it has also become very important to me but today I wanted to find out what it was about the garment that was so sentimental.

I sat down with my mum this weekend and asked her a selection of questions about the jacket and it’s history.
From my research I found out that the jacket in fact belonged to my grandma and was gifted to my mother when she was also 16. My mother told me about how she met my father wearing it, pairing it with a red mini dress and cowboy boots. She also remembered another story where she was wearing this coat, when her and her best friend were around 23 and they had run home from the pub drunk and in the pouring rain.

I wanted to delve even deeper into the history of the jacket so contacted my grandma and asked her how she came to owning such a gorgeous jacket. She told me that her mother had given her and her brothers $10 pocket money when she was 14 and she had decided to use it to go shopping and stumbled across the jacket, unfortunately she was $2 short but the shop keeper had told her she could have it anyway.

I really loved finding out the stories the jacket has lived through , it immediately made the garment so much more sentimental and made me happy that now I was the one creating memories in it.

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I want to do study to learn what discourages individuals from purchasing used goods. In my project, I'll aim to address these difficulties and how people can modify the problems they have with it to encourage them to give it a go.

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What deters you from buying second hand over brand new?

Buying second hand is a lot more work. With buying new things you know exactly where to get them whereas if you wanted to find something second hand you have to go on a bit of a hunt for it, whether that be online or charity shops etc.

Some people feel too image conscious to buy second hand. Many of us want to look ‘up to date’ and current with trends and therefore want to make sure they have the newest looking clothes.

Some people find it ‘gross’ wearing someone else’s old clothes, they see it as being contaminated even though this is not the case.

People feel pressured by society and can believe that by buying second hand it means they cannot afford to buy brand new.

Many of us don’t know the implications fast fashion has on the world and the garment workers and therefore buy from there without thinking too far into it.

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I was surprised to discover that one In six of the worlds workers are employed by the fashion industry. It is estimated that by 2030 the fashion industry will consume resources equivalent  two earths with the de and of clothing forecasted to increase why 63%.
After reading this statistic I was interested in finding out more about the people that actually make the clothes and how this demand is going to effect them.

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An Oxfam 2019 report found that 0%of Bangladeshi garment workers and 1% of Vietnamese garment workers earn a living wage. 80% of garment workers are women, so what does this mean?

This means that workers are unable to save money to create a safety net for themselves while they look for alternative employment. Mother’s often have to start their daughters working in the factories from the age of just 10 years old as one working wage is not enough to feed a family.

This means that the female garments workers become more susceptible to sexual abuse as they cannot risk loosing their job by reporting it.

There have also been many reports from women who work in garment factories of bladder infections due to lack of toilet breaks and managers forcing women to take the contraceptive pill so that they do not get their period.

Some employers will only hire unmarried women with no children and some make each woman sign a document that they agree not to have children during their term of employment. Compulsory testing during the recruitment phase are all too common. Pregnant women or those who refuse to be tested are simply not hired. Women who become pregnant during their employment may try to hide it, often resulting in birth defects and other childcare issues

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On Wednesday, April 24th, 2013, an eight-story commercial building collapsed in the Dhaka district in Bangladesh. Referred to as the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse, the accident killed 1,134 garment workers and injured an additional 2,500, making it the deadliest garment-factory disaster in history.

This led to a global movement taking place on social media, starting in the UK, where people were resharing the hashtag ‘WhoMadeMyClothes’. This movement was started in order to encourage companies to increase supply chain transparency and to hold them accountable for the way their garments are made and whether or not they are providing a safe working space for their workers. The movement had led to activists across 84 countries using the hashtag, pressuring companies to provide better care for their workers in order to not get ‘cancelled’.

In response to this movement garment workers started replying to these shares with the hashtag #imadeyourclothes which in turn opened up the conversation between the workers and the consumers.

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I found out that shein garment workers are paid just 3p per item they make. This encouraged me to experiment with making my own hand embroidered garment tags which I will then take into Primark and attach to the clothing that is being sold there. I did this as I wanted to work out whether customers would continue to buy the clothing if they had to come face to face with the facts about where and how the garments are made.

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Alongside fast fashion having negative impacts on garments makers, it is also becoming a massive problem in regards to where they are all ending up leading to an overflow at landfills.

With the average consumer now buying 60% more clothes than they did 15 years ago the UK has become the biggest fashion consumer country in Europe.

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Through doing this group discussion I have learnt about the mindsets of those who don’t shop second hand and this will in turn help me to try to change peoples options on this. I want to focus mainly on the last point, that people buy fast fashion because they aren’t educated on the factors that should encourage them to try shop more sustainability.

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The Rana Plaza Factory was a eight story commercial building located in Bangladesh that collapsed in April 2013. This tragedy quickly became a symbol of the impact of fast fashion and led to many demanding a sustainable reform.

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Led by donkeys are a political British campaign group established in 2018. They stand for art, activism and accountability and rely on public donations to fund their work.

I wanted to look into this campaign as I felt passionate about the work they have created in the past and their way of spreading important messages.

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Led by donkeys recently held an instillation, calling out the government as they have done serval times in the past.
In this instillation they projected onto parliament, the entire timeline of the ongoing party gate saga as a story of crime file after Boris Johnson had been caught after hosting a ‘work’ party. Alongside using a projection, they also played a recording of all the lies the public had previously been told regarding lockdown and the parties that members of the government had been throwing.

The video also compares the punishment the government has received for its parties with the way the general public were penalised for socialising at exactly the same time.

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Through doing research of ‘led by donkeys’ I have found I particularly like their projection work. Through such a small device they are able to project an image that not only many can see , but that is also very powerful and impactful.

I want to keep the idea that my museum is moveable as I feel this is a key thing I am trying to highlight surrounding fast fashion, that it is not just an issue for those that are making the garments but is an issue that is global and all around us.

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- 80% of Apparel is Made by Young Women Between the Ages of 18 and 24

- 59% of All Sustainability Claims by European Fashion Brands Are Inaccurate and Misleading

- The world uses an estimated 80 billion pieces of clothing every year, a 400 percent increase from two decades ago.

-16 - 18 hours per day is the average working day in most manufacturing countries

-Three out of five fast fashion garments end up in a landfill within a year of purchase.

- Fast fashion garment workers are paid 3p for each garment they produce

-93% of brands aren’t paying garment workers a living wage

- More than 50% of fast fashion clothes will be discarded within one year of purchase

- many fast fashion chains produce more than 1 million garments a day

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Developing from the tags I created I want to look at making stickers instead. This would be much more time efficient and would allow me to to stick them onto Primark clothes in order to capture the consumers reaction to coming face to face with the harsh facts about fast fashion.

I’ve used the same font and colour scheme that Primark uses.

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In order for this sticker idea to be effective I want to create a call to action via a QR code that will lead the audience to finding out more about the campaign and why they shouldn’t be buying fast fashion.

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Daily facts released about fast fashion 

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Daily facts released about fast fashion 