The fashion industry has a huge impact both on people and environment; in many cases, it works at very low labour and environmental standards. Do you know the truth about what you are wearing? Until the 30th of June you may visit the “Fashion Experience” and find it out.
It is Wednesday 26th of June, 2019, and it is 35 degrees in Milan. However, this does not serve as a valid excuse to break the promise and not go to volunteer for ManiTese at the “Fashion Experience.” ManiTese is an NGO that develops projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the aim to promote social, economic and environmental justice. In Italy, it promotes good practices, projects of social inclusion and initiatives for the formation of young people. Founded in 1964, ManiTese has now also a consulting status in the UN ECOSOC.
As an interactive and multimedial installation denouncing the social and environmental pressure the fast-fashion industry is causing, the “Fashion Experience” shows visitors around the backstage of what we buy and dress.
Why the Fashion Experience?
From 2000 to 2015, the production of clothes worldwide has doubled, passing from 50 to 100 billion items. At the same time, the utilisation rate has diminished by 36%. It is estimated that, on average, a person uses his or her clothes only 7 or 8 times before throwing them away. Only 13% of these clothes are recycled. This production-consumption model is not sustainable anymore.
A pair or jeans requires 3,800 litres of water to be produced: the equivalent of what a family uses in 3 days to drink, clean and cook. The CO2 emitted instead, amounts to 33.4 kg: it is equal to that emitted by travelling 110 km by car. The land used is about 12m2. Considering that 3.5 billion pairs of jeans are produced every year in the world, the environmental impact is enormous.
From the social point of view, the fast-fashion industry works at very low labour standards. On average, workers from developing countries work around 12 hours per day for 200$ a month under conditions of no safety. India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Ethiopia are among the countries where this form of modern slavery is most present. The exploitation starts in the cotton fields, well before the packaging of the finished product.
The “Fashion Experience” shows these dark sides of the apparel supply chain.
Do you know the truth about what you are wearing? If not, you may visit the “Fashion Experience” and find it out. The installation has been organized by ManiTese in cooperation with other partners, the Municipality of Milan and the Italian Agency for the Cooperation to Development. Until the 30th of June it is possible to visit it in Piazza XXIV Maggio (Milan).
