Extinction Rebellion staged a funeral to mark the end of LFW

Yesterday, activist group Extinction Rebellion staged a funeral to mark the end of London Fashion Week. Starting off in Trafalgar Square, a group of around 200 people then made their way along the Strand before ending up outside the BFC venue which plays host to a large number of LFW shows.

Explaining they were ‘putting the fashion system to rest’, protestors gathered around two black coffins as they paid homage to a Fashion Week they hope will be the city’s last. One coffin read ‘LFW 1983 - 2019’, while the other had ‘Our Future’ engraved on it. As a number of speakers called for the industry to stop what they called the wasteful production of clothes, members of the congregation threw flowers onto the caskets. 

The group also stopped outside H&M, one of the largest manufacturers operating in the fast fashion arena, where fair trading clothing company founder Safia Minney gave a speech. “I’m calling on London fashion week to have the courage and the strength to change everything it does,” she said. 

Fashion has a huge part to play when it comes to averting the climate disaster we are currently facing, and with the likes of Gucci and Burberry among the first brands to host carbon neutral fashion shows, and more and more designers thinking in a sustainable, eco-conscious way, it seems the industry is waking up to its responsibiliies. However, many believe it is still not doing enough.

Writing on their website prior to the demonstration the group said, “We call on all citizens, including the industry itself, to demand an end to London Fashion Week and to put the toxic system of consumption to rest forevermore.” 

Earlier in the day, The British Fashion Council hosted a panel made up of fashion industry leaders and environmental activists. Discussing, among other things, how to make fashion a more sustainable institution, it seems the rallying cries of the protestors were being heard. A culmination of the work Extinction Rebellion has done this week, such as creating a blood-red carpet for LFW opening and staging die-ins at shows, the funeral was their final ‘rebellious’ act.