Educational fashion content for school children is coming.
Red Carpet Green Dress — founded by Suzy Amis Cameron in 2009 — is partnering with Fashion Takes Action on a video series that aims to raise awareness among young people about fashion’s global impact on people and the planet.
The news is timely given that non-profit organizations like Greta Thunberg led by young Fridays for Future are relentlessly pushing for change, and Thunberg herself was recently released after being detained during a climate protest against a German mine.
Since 2014, Fashion Takes Action has been achieving similar goals in its “My Clothes My World” program, which has educated 30,000 students (grades four to 12) across Canada. Last November, RCGD partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on a sustainable style code to get stars to dress more sustainably for red carpet moments. The nonprofit is piloting numerous forms of content, including an app, with the goal of spreading awareness of sustainable fashion consumer practices.
The free video series is designed for elementary-aged children and launches Wednesday on Fashionimpacts101.com.
At launch, the educational capsule consists of six short five- to seven-minute videos, which provide an overview of key sustainability issues in the fashion industry and how to address them. These include, among others, “Introduction to Sustainable Fashion”, “The Problem of Fashion Waste” and “How Much Pollution Are You Carrying?”.
Samata Pattinson, CEO of RCGD, describes the importance of the project as “educating future leaders”.
“FTA has been educating youth about the impacts of fashion in Canada since 2014. The need for teachers to talk to students about sustainable fashion feels increasingly necessary as social media influences kids to consume at a younger and younger age,” added Kelly. Drennan, founder and CEO of Fashion Takes Action, in a statement.
Pattinson and Drennan star in educational videos and will be joined by guest speakers in each episode, including a mix of industry experts, influencers and celebrities. Guest speakers include Eva Kruse, SVP of Pangaia Group (and former CEO of Global Fashion Agenda), Remake founder Ayesha Barenblatt, and youth sustainability activist Maya Penn, among others.