Campaign aims to highlight issues facing fashion industry through events

Clothing and textiles made in Cambodia, India and China and imported to Ireland are produced on the back of forced labour using dangerous chemicals which can cause birth defects and cancer.

This is the message behind Better Fashion Week which aims to highlight the issues facing the fashion industry through a series of exhibitions, events and industry talks.

According to its organisers, buying cheap imported clothes often means propping up highly questionable work practices in Asia and India while sustainable fashion saves lives and jobs. They say:

* As of January last, not one of Cambodia’s 500-plus garment factories pays a living wage. Workers, mostly woman, are being routinely forced to work up to 100 hours per week for €0.28. Since 2008, Ireland has imported €66.95 million of textiles and clothing from Cambodia.

* China produces more than a quarter of the world’s textile and clothing supply. It has the world’s largest labour force earning low wages. Since 2008, Ireland has imported €2.1 billion of textiles and clothing from China.

* India is home to over one-third of the world’s cotton farmers. Birth defects and cancer rates are increasing, ostensibly due to the usage of pesticides that are banned in Europe. A report to the UN Division for Sustainable Development quoted that in India, from 1997-2006, one farmer committed suicide every 32 minutes. Since 2008, Ireland has imported €475m of textiles and clothing from India.

Also, Ireland currently only recycles 4% of textiles in the country which means approximately 250,000 tonnes of textile goes to waste which could be reused or recycled.

Rosie O’Reilly, one of the event’s organisers, said fashion, like every other commodity industry, offers the chance to be either responsible or irresponsible consumers.

“Choosing to buy garments that we take the initiative to investigate whether they are responsibly, ethically or sustainably produced means that your money can directly support developing communities, both socially and financially,” she said.

“But closer to home, you can support an industry that has a value of €80m and provides jobs to over 5,000 people.”

* The 5th annual Brown Sugar Better Fashion Week takes place at No 6 Castle Market St, Dublin 2, from April 23-30.