Education is the Future of Fashion
The importance of sustainability and giving back is immense in the non-profit industry. Some huge non-profits focus on second-hand goods like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and St. Vinnies. They are exceptionally well-known and have locations all across the country. To look at the non-profit fashion industry in a microlens, many non-profits focus on fast fashion and sustainability. Today, I am focusing on the importance of sustainability in fashion and how one non-profit utilizes its platform to educate the youth.
Perfection does not exist, especially in the fashion industry. Today, we produce 60% more clothing than we did 20 years ago, and sweatshops and forced child labor still exist. There are many negative sides to clothing manufacturers’ production, practices, and materials. A non-profit I want to highlight is called Fashion Takes Action, based in Canada and established in 2007. FTA focuses on bringing sustainable practices to the fashion industry through education, research and collaboration. FTA has many programs and events to advance sustainability in the fashion industry, such as WEAR Conference, SHIFT: Responsible Fashion Series, and a Sustainable Fashion Toolkit.
The future of fashion is in the hands of the future leaders of our world, and FTA focuses immensely on this group. They offer many opportunities to educate the youth to get involved by using their resources to make a difference in the fashion industry. One important program to highlight is My Clothes My World, a youth education program that teaches students grades 4-12 about the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry. They offer tools and resources to help students make a difference. MCMW offers in-person and virtual workshops to educate and interact with future consumers.
I want to highlight their social media campaign #IAmAmThrifter. This campaign encourages students to post on TikTok and Instagram, spreading awareness about the power of thrifting. If students post on their social media platforms using the hashtag, they have a chance to join the FTA creator community. They can use the time spent creating videos for volunteer hours at their schools. The program is filled with individuals passionate about fashion and sustainability.
I love that FTA utilizes social media to spread awareness regarding their non-profit and how to get involved. In high school, I wished I had a resource to learn more about sustainable fashion and how I could change the world. FTA helps the youth feel seen and valued, which many big companies cannot do.
Overall, I find that FTA utilizes its platforms and media outlets to educate the people of our world best. Fashion Takes Action does not have a large amount of brand awareness because they mainly target students in Canada. The next step for their organization would be expanding to North America or abroad. After researching this organization, I have learned about many opportunities to make a change in the fashion industry. The importance of shopping second-hand and not buying into fast fashion are the first steps everyone should take to fight for sustainability and ethical practices.
