The demonstration took place on the second day of fashion week, during which royally honoured designer Richard Quinn’s work was showcased.
The protestors took to the pavements outside of Somerset House, the home of fashion week, armed with banners adorned with slogans including “No more false fashion” and “No fashion on a dead planet”.
The commotion continued as the activists moved onto the street, obstructing any traffic from moving along the busy thoroughfare of the Strand, outside Somerset House where the event takes place, aiming to cause maximum disruption.
One of the leaders of the protest, Sara Arnold, said: “London is home to the cutting edge of sustainable and ethical design and yet London fashion week lags behind.”
In a more extreme protest, four campaigners even wore barbed wire dresses and attached themselves to the ground to show their discontent towards the fashion industry which, according to the UN, uses more energy than both the aviation and shipping industry combined.
Arnold went on to add “Culture is complicit in our destruction when it should be taking responsibility for people getting their heads around this existential problem,”
Today’s fashion industry is becoming dominated by fast, throwaway fashion with companies such as Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and ASOS, leading the market. Offering cheap prices, quick delivery and a wide selection of styles; it would seem that these websites are a no brainer for convenient clothing. But this comes at a price. The environmental impacts that these companies have is something that Extinction Rebellion protestors want to change.