When the climate campaign group Extinction Rebellion occupied five prominent sites in central London in April 2019, just six months after it launched, it became one of the biggest civil disobedience events in recent British history. Over 11 days of demonstrations, thousands of activists marched, blocked bridges, glued themselves to trains and parked a pink boat in the middle of Oxford Circus.
Up next? Another demonstration in the UK capital, this time calling for the cancellation of London Fashion Week. Targeting show venues as well as the British Fashion Council’s headquarters in Somerset House, the organisation will stage disruptive events from 13 to 17 September, which will culminate in a funeral procession calledmeets Extinction Rebellion activists Sara Arnold and Jessie Brinton to discuss their plans – and find out why they’re holding the fashion industry to account.
“This is a time for boldness. We have to shift the conversation and you can’t do that gently. Everything else has been tried. We’ve been talking about sustainability since the 1970s and it hasn’t worked. Now, we have to do something new.”“We weren’t expecting London Fashion Week to be cancelled this time, but we have to make people realise that these things are coming to an end whether we like it or not. The UN Secretary General says we have until the end of 2020 to change course.
We’ve also been talking to the British Fashion Council and Caroline Rush about how we can have our voices heard on the inside. We’re hoping to have some kind of presence in 180 The Strand within the Positive Fashion space. I hope we can do a version of our ‘Heading for Extinction’ talk. It’s an overview of all the science and a look at the social aspect too, including why non-violent direct action is the best way to tackle this problem.
ExtinctionR I dare London Fashion Week to set the theme as solely “vintage repurposed”. Be the example, be the change 💚💚
ExtinctionR Atleast bv and some designers are talking to strikers in the uk. Guess it's still the coolest fashion city. But we all still need to demand better