When the What She Makes campaign launched back in 2017 with our report “What She Makes: Power and Poverty in the Fashion Industry” , no major Australian clothing brands were committed to a living wage for the women who make our clothes. Now, after two years – and the actions of thousands of people across the country – a lot has changed for the better.

Two years of tackling poverty in the fashion industry

We’ve achieved so much together since the launch of the campaign:

Many brands have made a real, credible commitment to working towards a living wage — Kmart, Target, Cotton On, City Chic, Elk, Best & Less, Designworks and Factory X who own Gorman, Dangerfield, Allannah Hill and more.
Three brands brought their factory lists out of hiding — Country Road Group, David Jones and Jeanswest, and they are getting closer to making a real commitment.

Paying a living wage — enough for the women who make our clothes to live a decent life — is now firmly part of the conversation about being an ethical company.

In the two years of the What She Makes campaign, nearly 130 000 people signed the pledge to stand with the women who make our clothes. People have sent thousands of emails to brands, handwritten dozens of letters to CEOs, left hundreds of cheeky messages in fitting rooms, made your voices heard on social media and held inspiring What She Makes events around the country. Together, we have more work to do, so big brands continue to feel the pressure and commit to paying a living wage – so the millions of women who make our clothes can lift themselves, and their families, out of poverty.

Stay tuned for more from What She Makes in the lead-up to Christmas… we’ve got something fun to share with you!

We all buy clothes and so we stand together with the women who make our clothes demanding to know #whatshemakes.