Here's Why People Are Protesting London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week got off to a controversial start, and (surprisingly) it has nothing to do with the bullet hole-ridden school shooting sweatshirts on the runway.
Non-violent activist group Extinction Rebellion descended on London on Sept. 13, soon before LFW’s first show, staging a “die-in” with fake blood to call attention to the fashion industry’s contribution to climate change.
Extinction Rebellion’s aim is to motivate the fashion industry to elucidate its disastrous contribution to the climate crisis, and to encourage a move toward sustainability.
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The organization sent a letter to the British Fashion Council in July, urging the cancelation of LFW, but their protestations fell on deaf ears.
RELATED: How to Shop Sustainably No Matter Your Budget
In addition to the “die-in,” the group has organized various protests around the city, including a “funeral procession” on Tuesday.
As the protests rage on, the group’s co-founder, Roger Hallam, was arrested for attempting to fly a drone near London’s Heathrow Airport. The organization has also been protesting the airport’s planned expansion.
By Fashion Week standards, XR's demonstrations have been fairly unobtrusive and have yet to interrupt any shows. In February of 2018, an anti-fur protester actually crashed the runway at Mary Katrantzou's LFW show, and in the fall of 2013 a topless group of feminist protesters mobbed Nina Ricci's Paris Fashion Week show.
