Sustainability in vogue: new documentary looks at three Hongkongers changing the fashion industry
- Joanna Bowers’ ‘reFashioned’ examines the environmental damage caused by fast fashion, and explores how technology and innovation can drive change
- The director says she hopes the film prompts viewers to understand their power as consumers and embrace a circular economy
“The main protagonists in the film are everyday people with busy lives and hopes and fears about work-life balance, but in their own ways slowly striving to do something to curb the damaging effects of the fashion industry,” said filmmaker Joanna Bowers, who previously directed The Helper, a documentary focused on the maternal sacrifices of Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers.
With reFashioned, which premieres next month, she hopes to help individuals realise they too can effect change.
“I was already interested in the environmental impacts of the fashion industry, having worked on some short-form documentaries, and so I was keen to further explore the sustainable fashion landscape in Hong Kong,” Bowers said. “We want our audience to understand the power they have as consumers.”
The topic resonated with her not only as a filmmaker but also as a parent.
“I’m incredibly conscious of the damage our generation has wrought on the environment as a result of being major consumers of fast fashion,” she said. “But I think inasmuch as we have all been complicit in causing the problems, we can equally be active in finding and supporting the solutions.”
The 84-minute documentary examines how society creates, consumes and ultimately disposes of clothing.
