Photos: Shutting down Broadmead to protest the environmental impact of fast fashion

On Saturday, hundreds of people took part in a protest in Bristol city centre organised by Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the environmental costs of the fashion industry.

Photography 3rd June, 2019

Norberto Fernández Soriano

On Saturday, hundreds of people took part in a protest in Bristol city centre organised by Extinction Rebellion to raise awareness of the environmental costs of the fashion industry.

It was the latest dramatic protest by the Bristol arm of the campaign group Extinction Rebellion, who in April blockaded key routes in the centre of London to protest the lack of political action on climate change.

Saturday’s events included a ‘die-in’ protest in Cabot Circus, blocked roads, workshops to mend clothes and a fashion show, intended to raise awareness of the carbon footprint of fashion.

Extinction Rebellion Bristol is calling on supporters to pledge not to buy any new clothes for one year.

XR said the action was part of a series of direct actions “to withdraw our support from industries that exploit people and planet for profit”.

“Total greenhouse gas emissions from textiles production, at 1.2 billion tonnes annually, are more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined,” XR point out, according to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

XR also claim that clothing production has more than doubled globally over the last 15 years, and in the UK we’re buying twice as much as we were buying 15 years ago.