Do you know who made your clothes?

As consumers, it's hard for us to really know who made our clothes and where they've come from. Brands are often hazy on the details, and for good reason - a lot of the time, they don't even have this information themselves. 

Fashion supply chains can be convoluted, fragmented and opaque, and the lack of transparency surrounding them means that human rights abuses and environmental issues are commonplace.  

So what is transparency? And why does it matter?

Transparency is all about brands knowing who makes their clothes and how, and letting us see behind the scenes by sharing this information publicly. Encouraging brands to share details about the people and processes behind their clothes will lead to greater accountability in the industry and help us to make more informed decisions about the clothes we buy. Greater transparency will also help brands to identify human rights abuses and environmental issues in their supply chains so they can deal with them as quickly as possible. It's an essential step in transforming the fashion industry.

Five years have passed since the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, an event which demonstrated how a lack of transparency can cost lives. After it happened, campaigners spent weeks searching through the rubble trying to find the labels of brands that were using the factories in the Rana Plaza building to produce their clothes.  Every year Fashion Revolution Week marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, and this year it's happening between 23-29th April. Thousands of people around the world will be calling for a better, more transparent fashion industry by asking brands one simple question:

#Whomademyclothes? 

Our challenge this month is to join them!

Getting involved is easy:

1. Take a picture of any item of clothing with the label showing

2. Follow the brand on social media

3. Post the picture with a message to the brand asking #whomademyclothes at any point during Fashion Revolution Week (23-29th April 2018) 

Optional extra: 
Repeat with other items of clothing from other brands - the more the merrier.

Optional extra part deux: 
Spread the word - tag 3 friends and challenge them to get involved too

Don't forget to tag us (@togetherstreet / #togetherstreet ) so we can see your pictures, and let us know if the brand responds so we can share it with the rest of the Together Street community!

Going deeper: The Shirt On Your Back

"This is a story about money: in your pocket, in a till, electronically wired across the world by a retailer to a factory owner, paid to bribe an inspector, handed out at month-end to workers thousands of miles from where you are sitting. It is a story about movement: of the planes, trucks, trains and ships linking a poor Asian country to the west; of people through that country's streets; of rapid arms working rattling machines in raucous factories."

Told through a mixture of writing and film, this interactive documentary from the Guardian gives an incredible insight into the story of the people behind our clothes. We'd love to hear your thoughts after you take a look. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you? Has it changed the way you see your clothes? Share your musings with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

Here's to the Fashion Revolution!