We Are What We Wear: Unravelling fast fashion and the collapse of Rana Plaza

by Lucy Siegle, Jason Burke

Fashion is many things. It is self-expression, big business, trend-setting, a lifestyle choice. But however you see fashion, it relies on one simple characteristic: the incredible speed with which clothes make their journey from the drawing board to the High Street hanger. Fashion is fast.

Fast fashion influences the types of garments we have in our wardrobes. It also describes the complex, multi-national supply chain that links the shirt on your back to the crowded, creaking factories in the world’s slums where clothes are made by a workforce numbering in the tens of millions.

The manufacturing pressures that come from our deep love of incredibly cheap, incredibly current fashions were shot to global attention in 2013 when the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city, collapsed in a cascade of tumbling rubble, twisted metal and trapped bodies. Over 1,100 people died, mainly young women.

We Are What We Wear is the story of what happened in Bangladesh and how fast fashion has grown to become the giant that it is today. The intimate accounts from the survivors of the collapse are mixed with an exploration of the history of fast fashion and of how the High Street both fuels and satisfies our every fashion wish. Award-winning reporter Jason Burke picks his way through the day of the collapse, while fashion and consumer expert Lucy Siegle looks at what has happened since - and what needs to happen next.

Genres: Fashion

45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2014

About the author

Lucy Siegle is a British journalist and writer on environmental issues. She is a reporter on The One Show. Siegle offers a unique and beguiling perspective on environmental issues and ethical consumerism.

Reviews

[Madlenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good starting point if you want to find out more about how clothes are made nowadays and what the problem of fast fashion is. Good writing style & plenty of useful information I will use in my further reading.

[Saji Maruthurkkara · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Are What We Wear: Unravelling Fast Fashion and the Collapse of Rana Plaza book by Lucy Siegle
Rating 4
(1=Bad, 2=Ok won’t recommend, 3=OK time pass, 4=Good, 5=Very good don’t miss)
Where to buy: Audiobook in Audible, also available on Amazon

I recall being glad to see the label "Made in Bangladesh" on my kid's clothes. It gave a slight satisfaction of how my little purchase supported the economy of countries far away and, thus, by extension, the livelihood of scores of people involved in the business. Little did I know how large clothing corporations were squeezing the life out of poor people far away to get me the latest fashion in an affordable way. Little did I know that thousands of people "like in Rana Plaza" lost their lives in the process. This book sheds light on the workings of the fast fashion industry and how it affects poor people in countries like Bangladesh. The simple fact is that companies are able to make garments cheaper primarily by cutting labour costs and reducing working standards. Eyeopening.

[Becca Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only available as an audiobook. The narrator’s voice is robotic and the voices she uses for the victims’ statements are very grating. The content was relatively interesting, particularly its explanation of how garments are made and the fast fashion business model, but I thought there would be more practical advice.

[Hannah Arndt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested to learn more about fast fashion and the issues faced by workers in Bangladesh, but the narration was an insult to the stories being told.

[Mereana Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good starting point. Nothing you haven’t heard before if you know about the topic.