As published in South Florida News Service

A Venezuelan fashion designer and activist took the stage at Miami Fashion Week to dig into the dark side of fast fashion, marginalized women and gave tips for creating more socially conscious fashion.

“I came here to follow that American Dream,” said Carmela Osorio Lugo.

She studied fashion at Savanah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and won Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Liz Claiborne Award in 2014. She used her winnings to create her senior collection. In 2015, she launched the sustainable label CARMELÀ alongside New York native and SCAD alumni Kyra Webb. Lugo currently works with Calvin Klein.

“Where does that piece of clothing you wear everyday come from?” said Lugo at the start of her speech at Miami Dade College (MDC), Wolfsonian Campus.

She pointed out how this recent feminist movement has influenced the fashion industry by clothes being produced with femme-positive statements printed on top.

“That shirt that you wear has a whole background story,” said Lugo.

According to Lugo, the fashion industry is one of the biggest in the world, being worth $1.2 trillion and has about 75 million people making clothes.

“100 pairs of hand touch your clothes before they get to you, the customer,” said Lugo.

Eighty percent of the 75 million workers are women, ranging from ages 14 to 24, who work 14 to 29 hours in sweat shops, she said.

“They want to feel safe, they want feel healthy, they want to feel financially secure and they mostly want to feel happy,” said Lugo.

The tragedies that occurred in Bangladesh such as the Dhaka fire, with a death toll of 117 and the collapse of Rana Plaza, where 1,134 people. The majority of the workers who perished were women. Lugo said that retailers and consumers are partly to blame for these calamities that occur within the fashion industry.

Retailers create cheap markup prices and the competitive pricing is what drives retailers to exploit their manufacturing factories. She said consumers should take some responsibility because they are always demanding better prices. However, are younger consumers jumping onto the sustainability train?

The 24-year-old Venezuelan designer said her generation has an emotional involvement when they shop and that it might have to do with social media.

“[Sustainable fashion retailers] have that whole big picture that they really know how to sell it by showing that it’s sustainable,” said Lugo.

Sustainability is trendy and her generation also buys vintage, Lugo said, which is one of many ways to be eco-friendly.

When considering the future of sustainable fashion in all stores, Lugo was hesitant.

“[Retailers] are all about making money,” she said.

But at the end of the day, it’s up to the consumers to change the minds of retailers in order for sustainable fashion to exist in every shop around the world, she said.

Overall, the audience enjoyed her presentation and even gave them a boost of confidence.

Sara Escalante, a business owner creating her own socially conscious brand, explained that Lugo’s talk had given her some inspiration for her career.

“It doesn’t matter your age, you can make an impact,” said Escalante.

Joneith O’Neil, a fashion enthusiast who works at the marketing at MDC’s Idea Center, said the highlight of the presentation was choosing the costs of fashion.

“That’s the most important thing,” said O’ Neil. “Just try to support and give more opportunities to others and if you want to do that through fashion, that’s great.”