Protesters marked the opening of London Fashion Week on 12 September with the message ‘Don’t mention the garment workers’. The protest action – which included a banner bearing the slogan suspended from Waterloo Bridge - was intended to expose an event which promotes the creativity of the UK’s fashion industry, but is silent over the millions of workers who produce clothes for high street chains.

Anti-poverty campaign War on Want, which organised the protest, says these workers are often working long hours on poverty pay in unsafe conditions. Senior campaigner Owen Espley said: “London Fashion Week is a glittering showcase for the fashion industry. But fashion’s dark side is kept in the shadows. The British Fashion Council would rather we all forget about those who often work long hours, on poverty pay, in unsafe conditions to produce the clothes we love.”
He added: “We can love fashion, but hate sweatshops and want a fashion week that lives up to its responsibility to all the workers who make the fashion we buy. The time has come for London Fashion Week to mention the garment workers.”

War on Want says all major UK brands who are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative have signed a pledge to pay workers a living wage, but none currently does so. It adds that London Fashion Week claims orders estimated at £100 million will be placed during the event - enough to pay a month’s wages for 2.4 million Bangladeshi garment workers who earn just £42 each month.