Manchester students and citizens gathered to mark Fashion Revolution Day 2016 with a double bill documentary film screening and discussion panel.

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On Thursday 22nd April 2016, Manchester students and citizens gathered at MMU’s 70 Oxford Street venue to mark Fashion Revolution Day 2016 with a double bill documentary film screening and discussion panel featuring a host of inspiring speakers. The event was hosted by the RESYNTEX Project at MMU and local sustainable fashion co-operative Stitched Up.

The day kicked off with a screening of heart wrenching BBC documentary ‘Clothes to Die For’, which tells the story of those who survived the Rana Plaza garment factory disaster of 2013. Audience members were left speechless after hearing the stories of what those trapped inside the collapsed building had to endure in order to emerge alive. Scenes in which factory workers recalled the names of the high street brands they were making for at the time of the disaster were particularly eye opening.

The second film screening of BBC documentary ‘The Secret Life of Your Clothes’ provided some lighter relief, although dealt with the serious issue of what happens to all our old clothes when we donate them to charity, through shops and recycling banks. The vast scale of second hand clothes markets in West Africa, which are dominating and decimating local textile industries, were brought home through footage of the entire chain of buyers and sellers.

The panel discussion picked up on both themes from both these films and examined some of the complex problems in the fashion supply chain. Speakers discussed how emotional connections and awareness of where clothes come from and how they were made relates to a more sustainable ways of consuming fashion. Audience members also contributed, asking questions and joining in the discussion on what we can do as consumers to change the way the industry works.

Catch up with the discussion online by watching the video and taking some time to fill in the survey, to help find more ways to make positive changes in the fashion industry.