2020

 

LFW 2020 - ACT NOW

180 the Strand, London, February 2020.

 

We started the year, begging once more for the BFC to cancel fashion week. On the 10th of February we delivered a letter demanding the cancellation of September 2020 fashion week and an emergency action plan that supports BFC’s stakeholders through transition into a new format: one that directly addresses the underlying issues of obsolescence, overproduction, and exploitation. And, as a government funded body which uses a Political Engagement Programme to lobby for the industry, we call on the BFC to lob by for the Three Demands Bill and “propose the legislation needed to stop the fashion industry’s exploitation of planet, people and animals.” The letter has been signed by Caryn Franklin MBE; Centre for Sustainable Fashion; Fashion and Textile Research Centre, Nottingham Trent University; Labour Behind The Label; Livia Firth, Eco-Age; Lynne Franks OBE; Martina Spetlova, designer; The Sustainable Angle; TRAID; Safia Minney MBE FRSA, REAL Sustainability Centre; UN Officer, Simone Cipriani, Ethical Fashion Initiative; VIN+OMI. Supported by XR Internationalist Solidarity, XR Art Factory, Animal Rebellion, XR Youth, XR Families, XR Samba Band, Red Rebels and Asad Rehman of War on Want, on the 15th of February we protested outside the main LFW venue, 180 The Strand, with creative actions, music, block printing on second hand clothing, speeches, food and family activities. Through this action, we used the power of creativity to vision a better world.

​

​

2019

​

FASHION TELL THE TRUTH: CAMPAIGN

 

Fashion Tell the Truth is an on going campaign with the mission of directing the fashion industry away from the destruction of the planet and towards using its immense powers of persuasion to save life on earth. Through industry meetings, expert panels and Heading for Extinction talks, we hope to call on both industry and individuals to join us in telling the truth and pressure our Government to act now, accepting XR’s Three Demands.

​

BOYCOTT BLACK FRIDAY

Oxford Circus,  London, November 2019.

 

On Black Friday, we took to London’s epicenter of shopping, Oxford Circus, to protest against the rampant consumerism and how it affects the Global South. This was a silent “awareness” protest of holding placards with facts on.
WHO IS PAYING THE PRICE?

Garment workers work up to 16 hours a day for a minimum wage.

That is less than half what they need to survive.
DON’T DICOUNT THE EARTH !

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is thrown away every second globally.
CONSUMERISM IS ECOCIDE.

We are using 1.7 earth’s worth of resources but we only have 1.

​

INTERNATIONAL REBELLION:

FASHION PEOPLES’ASSEMBLIES

Trafalgar Square,  London, October 2019.

​

During the October Rebellion 2019, in Trafalgar Square, every day from the 8th to the 13th, we held People’s Assemblies: Mapping Out the Future of Fashion. Hosted by journalists, activists, campaigners and artists, we covered topics such as: “Upcycling Materials: craft and a return to making”, “Change the world, not just your wardrobe”, “Body Dysmorphia in Fashion”, “Fashion tell the truth”, “Fashion education in an emergency”.

 

LFW 2019 - R.I.P. LFW

180 the Strand, London, September  2019.

 

During London Fashion Week September 2019, we organised three consecutive days of protest. The project launched on September 13th when activists wearing white dresses covered in fake blood glued themselves to the doors of 180 Strand, London Fashion Week’s main site for catwalk shows. On the second day, rebels wearing smart, corporate-style clothing covered in patches and bearing placards with key mottos and facts about fashion’s impact on the climate emergency protested around key fashion show venues. Finally, accompanied by flamboyantly dressed members of the creative industries, XRFA held a funeral procession along London’s Strand, symbolically putting London Fashion Week to rest. Speeches, songs, a band and the presence of the Red Brigade created drama and impact. Images from all actions continue to be used in the press today to illustrate articles about an industry on the precipice.

​

FASHION BLOCKERS & BOYCOTT TENT

London, 2019.

​

Leading up to Fashion Week we created the group XR Fashion Blockers and created blocks with slogans such as ‘No Fashion on a Dead Planet’ and ‘Don’t buy cool shit, make shit cool’. We had a tent at local groups uprisings and the International Rebellion where we blocked and also took photos with Boycott messages for the instagram. XR Hammersmith’s Fashion Action had a sewing tent where they were teaching upcycling techniques such as turning old t-shirts into tote bags.

​

FASHION TELL THE TRUTH: 

LETTER TO THE INDUSTRY

London, 2019.

 

In our letter to the British Fashion Council, we asked that the fashion industry convene for crisis talks, and as a platform to declare a climate and ecological emergency. We have talked to the BFC about setting up a People’s Assembly which would help work out a way in which the industry can transform itself. We have also discussed how declaring an emergency can be done and how we can all use London Fashion Week as a platform to educate people on the crisis we find ourselves in.

​

ASKING BFC TO CANCEL LFW

London, 2019.

​

SUPPORTING ACTIONS

London, 2019.

XR Fashion Action was asked to support a number of actions where we added costume, design and flair. This included bee outfits at Buckingham Bee Action, a dramatic costume with a 5 meter train signifying dirty oil for the Carmen protest, the Robo Cop outfits for the Stock Exchange protest, the Carnival of Chaos at the Brazilian Embassy and local designers upcycled designs at Notting Hill Carnival.

 

BOYCOTT LAUNCH

London, June 2019.
 

In June 2019, we introduced Boycott Fashion, asking shoppers to boycott all new fashion and textiles for a year. To launch the campaign, a RCA graduate presented a die-in instead of a graduate ‘collection’. This is an international campaign with supporters from all over the globe. We hope you will share the campaign with your audiences, and encourage to sign the pledge.

​

CIRCUS OF EXCESS

April 2019, Oxford Circus,  London

,Bristol

,Brighton
 

In a media and outreach action, we hosted a street catwalk, in the shape of an X, in Oxford Circus, London’s most iconic shopping mecca, showcasing upcycled looks by young creatives. This was done Fashion Actions iconic colours ‘shocking’ pink and black. This was then replicated in multiple cities both UK wide and internationally. The Bristol Action saw rebels stand in shop windows in their underwear posing as mannequins with anti fashion slogans written with paint on their bodies and the Birmingham action had a die in a local fast fashion store.

​

TAKING TO THE STREETS

February 2019. 180 the Strand, London.

 

We wrote to Caroline Rush, the CEO of The British Fashion Council to warn of disruption to London Fashion Week and to discuss the urgency for change. In February 2019, we ‘swarmed’ London Fashion Week demanding that the industry Tell The Truth and use its influence for good.​