Do you know who made your clothes? 

From an article by Purnaa

Purnaa is a clothes manufacturer in Nepal that provides world-class, ethical clothes production which empowers marginalized people and survivors of exploitation to fresh starts and fulfilled lives. They fulfil orders from retailers to the retailers' designs and also custom designs.

They are part of Fashion Revolution, a movement which advocates "for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry".

Fashion Revolution started after the Rana Plaza complex collapsed in Bangladesh in 2013, killing over 1,100 people. This elevated the conversation around the need for transparency in supply chains and how consumers can affect change. With increased transparency, brands and consumers can identify whether or not people are being exploited in the supply chain or if the environment is being harmed. Fashion Revolution aims to restructure the fashion industry to value people and the environment.

How are Purnaa demonstrating their impact as part of this movement?

• Their facility is open for tours to anyone that wants to come.
• They maintain a healthy work environment
• They love to tell the story of who made your clothes.
• They feature individual stories and interviews of their staff, knowing they each have their own story to tell.
• They conserve resources and produce ethically so that we all can continue enjoying the environment's natural beauty well into the future.
• They use environmentally friendly fabrics in their products, such as organic cotton, bamboo, and vegetable dyed leather.
• They up-cycle overstock fabric. Whenever possible, they use leftover fabric from a project to make a whole new product.
• They recycle waste.
• On each custom item, they list the details of their supply chain, the composition of materials and explain sustainable processes used in production.
• They pay better than Living Wage, offer life-skills training to equip better quality of living, give scholarships for adult education and personal development training

Many Purnaa staff come from exploitative, abusive and/or discriminatory situations. Some came out of sex trafficking, others from labour exploitation or abusive relationships and some from extreme discrimination because of caste, religion, gender, or HIV status. As a social enterprise, they reinvest 100% of profits to help this demographic by offering not just training, but also employment.

You too can become part of the Fashion Revolution whether you are a producer, retailer, or consumer. You are encouraged to ask the question, “Who made my clothes?”

Change starts to happen when people become aware of an issue and seek to find more information about it. Here are some steps suggested by Fashion Revolution:

• Ask the question; take a picture showing the label of your clothes and use social media or email to ask the brand #WhoMadeMyClothes?
• Research and find out more about how to change the fashion industry. Fashion Revolution provides many resources.
• Apply what you learned; change shopping habits. Use the information you have gathered to only shop from brands that you know are creating transparency in their supply chain.
• Buy second hand; If you are not able to afford to buy from ethical brands, there is always the option to buy second hand. This helps to eliminate some of the waste produced by the fast fashion industry.

If you are a producer or a retailer, let the public know who the people are who made the clothes. Be open and transparent about where and how your items are produced. Show consumers that you are a company that they can trust is treating people and the environment properly.

It all starts with you.