The True Cost – The Movie

Tonight at the Curzon Cinema, Bloomsbury London, the lights go up on ‘The True Cost’, a movie that asks us all to question ‘Who pays the price for our clothing?’ Described as ‘a story about clothing’*, this ground-breaking documentary explores the impact that fast fashion is having on the people who make our clothes and our environment.

still from the film

It’s no secret that whilst rents, houses, food and hair cuts have all seen a steep rise in cost over the past few decades, the cost of clothing has dramatically decreased. As a buyer for one of the UK’s largest high street stores, I can tell you that the pressure put upon us to cut prices whilst increasing margin can sometimes be immense. Year upon year, the challenge is to increase sales and margin; for if you cut prices sales will rocket. But at what cost?

Still from the film

Directed by Andrew Morgan, the film is a montage of interviews; from the giddy heights of the catwalk to the lows of those workers producing the garments. He has interviewed leading influencers such as Stella McCartney and Livia Firth, but also those people affected when the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh, just two years ago, and over 1100 people were killed and 2500 injured.

Often an area we neglect to think about, is the impact fast fashion is having on our environment. In the UK alone an estimated £140 million worth of discarded clothes go into land fill sites every year. Many fast-fashion items are made from man-made fibres, which don’t disintegrate so forever stay in our ecosystem. There is also the problem of the chemicals used to dye garments which can end up in our water systems polluting our rivers and streams.

But before you think I am being holier-than-thou, the reality is we all need clothes, and there is nothing wrong in wanting to look nice and be on trend. But I think we need to start being conscious about how we buy our clothes. This film will get us thinking, so as Dolly Jones for Vogue wrote ‘If you make one fashion move this summer, consider making it a trip to see The True Cost.’

The True Cost is being shown at The ArtHouse Cinema, Crouch End on 11th June at 8:30pm, click for tickets here.

* www.truecostmovie.com

All images are used by permission of The True Cost, and are stills from the film.