It’s Black Friday: Time to tackle overproduction

Black Friday emphasises excessive fashion production. Or Foundation urges brands to prioritise transparency through the #SpeakVolumes campaign to combat waste colonialism.

In the fashion and sustainability debate we often talk about the elephant in the room being the immense volumes of clothes produced and it being the core problem of our industry. As Black Friday campaigns go live online and in stores today, volumes become the brands biggest selling point – ‘buy more for less’ deals are everywhere. Volumes are also the core of the Or Foundation’s Black Friday campaign, but instead of discounts and bargains they target fashion brands to #SpeakVolumes. Why is transparency important to stop waste colonialism? Follow below as we unpack and encourage our network to #SpeakVolumes.

About The Or Foundation and the #SpeakVolumes campaign

The Or Foundation’s messaging is clear “Too much clothing. Not enough justice.” Working at the intersection of environmental justice, education and fashion development, the Or Foundation is on a mission to identify and manifest alternatives to the dominant model of fashion. Witnessing the immense clothing waste in Ghana as a result of the global secondhand trade (where unwanted clothes from countries in the Global North are exported to Ghana) on a daily basis, they advocate for systemic change to stop waste colonialism. Part of their stop waste colonialism campaign the Speak Volumes campaign is a call for transparency & accountability on production volumes. On a quest to clean up fashion’s waste crisis, develop data-driven policies and transition from a linear to a circular economy, the Or Foundation acknowledges the importance of knowing how many garments are produced every year.

Transparency as tool for change

The lack of transparency on production volumes is evident in Fashion Revolution’s 2023 Transparency Index, where they found that only 12% of 250 brands reviewed in their research disclose their annual production volumes. Fashion Revolution, who have promoted transparency and put pressure on brands since 2013, issue their Transparency Index report annually to fuel activism and drive greater accountability. Brands that disclose their business operations within various high impact areas take accountability of their actions and their progress to reach environmental and social targets. Citizens on the receiving-end of transparency, can demand more as progress remains slow and actions remain incremental.

Take accountability

Brands can take part in the Speak Volumes campaign, they can refrain from promoting ‘buy more for less’ deals this Black Friday and explore circular business models to encourage circular consumption patterns and longer garment lifecycles.