As I stand on the rubbles of Rana Plaza my friend asks me what I am thinking and feeling. But I don’t know what to say. I can’t speak. It’s such a huge hole, inside me and outside me – in this immense space where once stood the factory that collapsed and killed more than 1,100 people so that we could wear cheap fast disposable clothes. It’s been two years now and among the rubbles there are still millions of pieces of fabrics, buttons and labels. I keep collecting them, putting them in my handbag: “I must take these home, show them to everyone, we must not forget”.
No one has been held accountable for this. The situation is complicated and the stakeholders (government, factory owners, brands) are all ready to hold someone else responsible. But one thing is certain. As Nazma Akter, President of the Sommelito Garments Sramik Federation, told me two days ago: “fast fashion companies are so proud to publish their multibillion end of year profit results. Meanwhile the people who produce their clothes, us, go to bed hungry at night. They are producing disposable clothes with our blood. And they know. They know everything Livia”.
I can’t wait for you all to watch the amazing documentary The True Cost, available on netflix. It says it all.
Read more about the Rana Plaza disaster from Dolly Jones on vogue.co.uk
