When you pull your favorite top out of your closet, do you ever ask yourself, Who made my clothes? Probably not—unless you’re aware of Fashion Revolution Week, a campaign that challenges people around the world to ask that very question, via the hashtag #whomademyclothes. The international event, which commemorates the 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 workers, raises awareness of labor conditions in the fashion industry and challenges it to adopt more ethical practices.
While Fashion Revolution Week officially took place the week of April 18 to 24, Minneapolis is celebrating ethical fashion this Thursday courtesy of Conscious Collective, a Twin Cities–based group that is passionate about “living more sustainably through building community and sharing ideas.” The group is hosting a day-long maker’s crawl at the Triangle Building artist building in St. Paul that showcases locally made, fair-trade, and ethically sourced apparel from makers and textile artists. The second-annual event includes interactive activities, open sewing studios that offer a glimpse into how designers and textile artists create garments from paper to pattern, and a screening of short documentary, Unravel, by award-winning director and producer Meghna Gupta, which examines how a group of women in India are repurposing cast-off clothing from western countries. Attendees can also shop a pop-up boutique featuring Minnesota-made and designed clothing by brands including House of Gina Marie, EcoPetites, Poseidon’s Daughter Active Swimwear, All Kind, and Trades of Hope, which empowers women living in poverty around the world by helping to market their artisan goods, plus costume shop co-op Collective Spaces, local clothing manufacturer Clothier Design Source, fair-trade art and gift shop Regla De Oro, Northeast sustainable fashion boutique Hazel & Rose, and Divas Fair Trade Lucky Chango Specialty Coffee, and open studios from KMK Designs, Tulip Designs, and Collective Spaces. Capping it off, there will also be a photo booth to encourage people ask the brands they’re wearing the million-dollar question: #whomademyclothes?
6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 28, Triangle Building, 2500 University Ave. W., St. Paul, consciouscollectivemn.com/events