FRD Film Club: Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion
Join us for a fireside chat with Becca Coughlan, Senior Advocacy Manager at Remake. Hosted by FRD Founder, Kimberly Jenkins, together they will discuss Remake’s involvement in the recent documentary, “Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion,” systemic racism in the fashion industry, and more. This conversation will be followed by a Q&A.
About the film:
“Through a calculated social media presence and an unattainable aesthetic, Brandy Melville has become the must-have clothing brand for teens around the world. Behind the scenes, however, a toxic work environment and discriminatory recruiting methods have flourished. Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion exposes a system of exploitation within Brandy Melville and the global fashion industry — from the fast fashion brand's impossible beauty standards to the far-reaching consequences of cheap, mass-produced clothing.”
If you haven't already, stream the documentary ahead of the event.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
1:00PM – 2:00pm EST (virtual)
Zoom Link and Passcode will provided upon registration.
About Becca Coughlan
Senior Advocacy Manager at Remake
Becca is the Senior Advocacy Manager at Remake, a global advocacy organization that unites changemakers in the fight for human rights and environmental justice in the fashion industry. She has a degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Edinburgh. It was during this time in Scotland that she first saw The True Cost, a documentary made in response to the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013, and immediately knew she would work at the intersection of fashion, policy, human rights, and climate. She has spent the last ten years doing just that in various capacities around the world. Between jobs in the pandemic, Becca decided to go back to school to get her Master’s in Sustainability Management here at Columbia University. Now working full time with Remake, she leads the organization’s brand corporate accountability research and engagement, and supports its Global North advocacy and policy efforts.
About Remake:
CEO & Founder, Ayesha Barenblat, created Remake in 2015 with the mission to “unite unlikely allies across the fashion ecosystem—from influencers, creatives and brand executives, to unions, legislators, and garment workers—locking arms to fight for the change.”
“We are a community of fashion lovers, women rights advocates, and environmentalists on a mission to change the industry’s harmful practices on people and our planet. We make sustainability accessible and inclusive across our three pillars of work: education, advocacy, and transparency.”
Check out their most recent Fashion Accountability Report.
More about our theme for April, “Sustainability”:
A human universal on this planet is the fact that we get dressed each day, and most of us rely on shopping for what we wear. Though, for the past three “modern” centuries, large-scale industrial practices have capitalized on our everyday clothing needs, at a great cost. Many people are unaware of the implications that the fashion industry has had on human life and our natural environment. In the past century, the term “sustainability” has sought to address this, calling our attention to how unsustainable practices can lead to devastating consequences. When it comes to the intersection of fashion and race, longstanding practices within the fashion industry have its roots in labor exploitation, natural resource extraction and harmful, race-driven ideologies. This month, our research and events will outline and examine why (and how) sustainability and race is inextricably linked.