Ahead of our Leeds Craftivists Spring Campaign, local activist and artist, Pippa Woodhams, shares why the Transform Trade campaign already has ties to our city…
As a felt maker and artist, who’s been working with Armley Mills Industrial Museum over the past year and more, I’ve become very interested in the clothing industry. Look outside at the canal, mill wheels, train tracks, weir and rotting machinery, all half hidden in rampant vegetation. The history of the industrial revolution in Yorkshire is vividly experienced here, as you walk through these magnificent machines, imagining the noise, smells and clatter they must’ve made at the height of their power. There are tales of child labour and ghastly diseases, as well as stories of innovation and social progress.
But what of the clothing industry today? There’s clearly still a long way to go. There is exploitation, child labour in some areas, and human rights abuse.
We need a new Industrial Revolution!
“300 million people work in the clothing industry and fashion today. 80% of these are women of colour.”
My life has come full circle back to being an activist. In the late 1970s I worked with the then very new organisation, Traidcraft. With them, I visited craft producers in Bangladesh and Calcutta, building awareness of the need for fair trade and the development of local cooperatives. I sold thousands of pounds worth of craft and food goods: on Leeds Market, in homes, fairs and churches, finally establishing the first fairtrade shop in Leeds. Only recently, Traidcraft went out of business, after decades establishing the fair trade movement, but its education and campaigning arm morphed into the organisation, “Transform Trade” www.transform-trade.org It’s their campaign for a UK Fashion Watchdog, which Leeds Craftivists have taken up for January to March 2025.
“The way many large UK clothing brands buy stock from places like Cambodia and Bangladesh, dumps inappropriate, unexpected and excessive risks and costs onto supplier factories, and undermines smaller fashion brands. Their actions cause job losses, poverty wages, excessive overtime and unsafe conditions for the people who make our clothes. A Fashion Watchdog could make brands pay what they owe, on time and in full.” (Transform Trade)
THE U.K NEEDS A FASHION WATCHDOG!
Clothing supply chains are opaque and extremely complex. Global companies move around the world for the cheapest labour and production processes so people are unable to fight for their rights, or unionisation. Covid, in particular, caused untold suffering and put millions out of work as suppliers cancelled orders after goods had been made or raw materials paid for, and this continues to happen. (See research reports here: www.transform-trade.org/fashion-watchdog)
Many brands are beginning to wake up and publish policies promoting transparency and just wages for skilled labour. But a Fashion Watchdog will call many more in this country to account, and it’s one small area where we can be effective pressing for political change.
Ask yourself: WHO MADE MY CLOTHES?
- look at the label, find out about the components used, the country of origin, and wonder about the people who have created it; those in spinning and weaving factories, chemical factories, stitchers, homeworkers, packers, transporters and shop workers.
- research your brand, look up their policies, and write to them if you want more information. Search for the corporate website rather than the customer facing one.
- Join our campaign for a Fashion Watchdog, by joining in with the Craftivists, AND Pippa’s residency at Armley Mills. I’ll be there making banners and mini garments to send to Leeds MP’s in the week of February 8th to 16th. Come and add your contribution!
Sign up for any or all of our upcoming Leeds Craftivists Transform Trade meetings on Ticketsource.
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