Extinction Rebellion vs. London Fashion Week: What now?

London Fashion Week (LFW) first began in 1984 and was quickly established in the global fashion community as one of the 'big three' fashion weeks (the other two being New York and Paris). It's one of the most highly anticipated and talked about fashion events year in and year out. 

Credit: XR Boycott Fashion @xr.boycottfashion

But this year Extinction Rebellion, an international climate change activism collective, wrote to the British Fashion Council to cancel London Fashion Week. The reactions to this request were controversial, with some people within the industry supporting the idea, while some were vehemently against it. 

London Fashion Week went on as per normal, but things were slightly different. The protesters marched on the streets with signs and were present outside the venues where shows were being held, in what they called a funeral for London Fashion Week. 

It's a well-known fact that the fashion industry is a huge polluter to our environment and as concerns for climate change escalate, Extinction Rebellion actually does have a point. In their Instagram post about the protest, they said: The fashion industry is in desperate need of systemic change in order to reduce its impact on the planet... This is not the death of creativity or fashion but a call for radical transformation. 

So, what happens now?

Extinction Rebellion has a specific branch of their organisation focused on boycotting fashion, and they have more marches lined up for the rest of the year, and they are also proposing a pledge.

The #XR52, which is a pledge that people can sign up and observe in their daily lives, where they don't buy new clothing or textiles for 52 weeks is the newest initiative from the Boycott Fashion branch of Extinction Rebellion. It's easy to sign up so if this interests you in any way, click the link above and sign the pledge today. 

It may seem difficult, how can we not buy new clothes? But, remember: the way we'll save the planet is not by 10 people doing sustainable and ethical living perfectly. It'll be by 1000 people doing it imperfectly. 

Credit: XR Boycott Fashion