PLASTIC ASPHYXIA
Every year we produce more and more plastic. Since the day the plastic was invented in 1907 and became a daily staple in our lives, we have used plastic for the wrong uses. Why are we using a material that is meant to last an average of 500 years for a single use. At our consumption rate very soon there will be more plastic than fish on the sea. Are we drowning on plastic?
In this editorial we wanted to show how asphyxiating plastic is becoming to us as species and to all the ecosystem.
The solution is on our hands.
No more plastic straws, plastic bags, etc
COVID AND POLLUTION
Covid-19 brought a new awareness. Now there is no question about how closely connected we are as humans. No matter our location, our beliefs, or our resources. We were -and still are- all exposed. We want to protect our friends & family, specially our elderly and children. And so, we need to stay at a distance. Even though we are so hungry for hugs, kisses and caresses.
But awareness, loneliness and pain is not the only thing Covid-19 brought. The need for extra careful hygiene and the fear of contagion, brought an appalling amount of single- use plastic that now will stay with a us for centuries. It might be a good reminder about this crisis. It might be a wake up call to find solutions capable to biodegrade plastic. Or a better alternative to plastic all together.
Is science able to save us from our own mess? Will we be able to change our behavior? How much pollution can our planet take?
Read our article for Plastic Free July.. although refusing, reducing and reusing is an exercise we should all do every day.
UAE Fashion Revolution Week 2025: A Personal Invitation
Hello mis amores, As the founder of Goshopia and the Country Coordinator for Fashion Revolution UAE, I carry this initiative very close to my heart. Each year, as April approaches, I feel a sense of hope and urgency come together. Hope for a fashion industry that celebrates life, culture, and creativity—not exploitation. Urgency, because we are still rebuilding from the heartbreak of Rana Plaza, and there is still so much work to do. This year, I’m thrilled to invite you to join Fashion Revolution Week UAE 2025, happening from April 21st to 27th. Our theme this year? “Think Globally, Act Locally.” This is more than just a campaign. It’s a movement, a celebration, and a call to action. Through storytelling, education, art, and action, we’re reimagining the fashion system—from the roots up. Why Do We need a Revolution: A Look Back to Look Forward In 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapse shook the world. Over 1,100 garment workers—mostly young women—lost their lives in the name of cheap fashion and greed. Every Fashion Revolution Week since then has been about remembrance, resistance, and regeneration. Eleven years later, we’re still asking the same vital questions: This Year’s Manifesto in Motion In the UAE, we’re channeling the global movement through our local lens. Our focus this year is on three powerful pillars that guide our agenda: From panels to parties, student showcases to traditional textile talks—there’s something here for every conscious fashion lover, designer, student, and changemaker. 🌍 A Digital Showcase Like No Other This year, our student competition evolves into the #FR25 Digital Sustainable Fashion Showcase—a celebration of creativity, ethics, and ingenuity. It’s open not just to fashion students, but also to hobbyists and anyone crafting their own designs with sustainability in mind. Submissions are open until April 14th, with the showcase live from April 18th–30th. Watch, vote, and witness how fresh talent is designing a better fashion future. Vote for your favorite look and be part of their journey. 🤖 Can AI Help Fashion Become More Sustainable? April 21st | 6:00 PM GST | Online via Zoom We’re diving deep into the intersection of technology and ethics in this thought-provoking panel. With speakers from Microsoft, DAMAC Group, and beyond, we’ll explore how AI might help us design better, waste less, and personalize more—without losing our humanity in the process. Moderated by yours truly—with my FRev hat, Goshopia hat and my AI Master’s hat all on. Register here and join us for an intelligent conversation on the future- or maybe present- of fashion. 🌿 Fashion & Its Roots: Honoring Ancestry, Inspiring the Future April 22nd | 6:00 PM GST | Online This panel feels like a love letter to heritage. From Sri Lanka to Italy to India, we’ll explore how lacework, handloom, and ancient techniques hold the answers to a sustainable future. If you believe that what’s old is not forgotten—but sacred—this session will speak to your soul. Led by inspiring people preserving culture through craft, this event is an ode to the hands that came before us. Register here. 🎤 Behind the Seams: The Struggles of Fashion’s Makers April 23rd | 6:00 PM GST | Online Let’s bring the hidden stories to the front row. This panel uncovers the systemic challenges faced by slow fashion’s unsung heroes—our makers. With voices from India, the UAE, and beyond, we’ll explore innovation, equity, and empowerment. Let’s shine a light on those who stitch our values into every thread. Register here for this awesome panel! 🎨 Creative Upcycling & The Spirit of Jugaad April 24th | 6:00 PM GST | Online From scraps to statements, this session will show you how waste can become your greatest muse. Featuring Refash founder Akanksha Kaila and hosted by upcycling queen Poojitha Lakshman, this is your invitation to turn the old into something golden. Register and let your imagination run wild here. 🌀 Are We Going Backwards? Fast Fashion vs. the Revolution April 25th | 6:00 PM GST | Online Are we winning the battle for better fashion—or are we losing it to ultra-fast giants like Shein and Temu? This brave, necessary conversation brings marketers, coordinators, and advocates to the table to tackle the hard truths. Let’s get real, get strategic, and protect the values we care about. Register here! 🎊 The #FR25 Community Celebration April 26th | From 6:00 PM GST till late | InterContinental Dubai Marina Now, for something a little more joyful! Join us for an unforgettable evening of music, connection, style, and celebration. It’s our big Fashion Revolution Week party—and you’re on the guest list. Bring your friends, your dancing shoes, and your slow fashion flair. This is where community meets consciousness, and we raise our glasses to the future we’re building—together. Register here and it is open to everybody, so bring your friends along! ♻️ Clothes Swap & Furoshiki Workshop April 27th | 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM | London College of Arts, Dubai Let’s wrap up the week with the most feel-good activity of all: a clothes swap! Bring your pre-loved garments and find new treasures. While volunteers get the swap shop ready, join our Furoshiki Workshop led by Poojitha Lakshman and learn the art of sustainable gift-wrapping. It’s beautiful, cultural, and zero waste. Register here and let’s end the week with creativity and connection. A Final Word from My Heart Fashion is powerful. It touches every life, every culture, and every corner of our planet. But it’s also broken. Fashion Revolution Week is our moment to rebuild—not with fear, but with hope, courage, and community. To the volunteers, the artisans, the students, the designers, the dreamers… Thank you. You are the threads of this revolution. Let’s keep weaving a future we can be proud of—where style meets soul, and consciousness becomes culture. Join us. Share the message. Be the change. With all my love and purpose, Araceli GallegoFashion Revolution UAE Country CoordinatorFounder of Goshopia Follow the movement on Instagram @fash_revuaeJoin our WhatsApp CommunityVisit our Website Hashtags to follow and share:#FRw2025 #FashionRevolutionWeek2025
JOIN OUR PLASTIC IS NASTY CAMPAIGN!
We love July. As school is over, we start going away on holidays and get to enjoy the beautiful summer nights. July is so special that we want to bring you a special challenge. Our #PlasticisNasty campaign is a way for us to connect the Plastic Free July initiative. There is no better time to start creating a new habit now that we are relaxed. But the idea is that this change becomes a life-long one and we implement it in our daily routine when we are back from the holidays. What is Plastic Free July? Plastic Free July is a global initiative that inspires millions of people to contribute to the solution of plastic pollution, allowing us to work together to have cleaner streets, oceans, and communities. In Goshopia we are launching the #PlasticIsNasty and every day during the whole month of July you will get tips to reduce plastic in our Instastories. Kind of like a challenge, and you are part of it too! Share the tips on your Instagram and send us pictures of you implementing them. As you very well know, we have a personal battle with plastic. Our emailers are biodegradable and whenever we need to use plastic to ship our beautiful wares it is reused. We are the only retailers offering the Cora Ball and the Guppy Bag in the Middle East trying to stop microplastics to go down the drain to our oceans. Not all plastics are equal. Some might be easy to recycle where you are, most are destined to reach the landfill and stay there for centuries. Our focus is on single-use plastics. They just don’t make sense. Straws? Bags? Cotton buds? Bottles? Cling Film? You use them for some minutes and yet they will not decompose in your lifetime. So, we have one question for you… Will you participate in Plastic Free July by refusing to use single-use plastics? Goshopia’s team 💕 The Fashion industry’s contribution to the plastic problem We currently buy more clothes than ever before. Fast fashion relies on massive raw plastic production; as per research, 63 percent of the materials used for garments in 2015 were coming from plastic, with less than 3 percent being recycled material. Furthermore, more than half of fast-fashion clothing items are discarded within a year. Plastic additives like antioxidants, colors, and fire retardants are added to the raw microfibers during the manufacturing process, which is hazardous for workers and eventually for us. All those synthetic fibers when under friction release fibers aka microplastics. When we are washing our clothes or when we are tumble drying them lots of those tiny microplastics are released into the water. As the washing machine and the waste management systems can not filter them as they are very small, they end up traveling down the drain to our rivers or oceans. Fish and marine creatures get confused by their size and think the microplastics are food. They eat them and suffer hormone & digestive disruptions that end up killing them. Fashion retailers have been reluctant to adopt recycled materials into their clothes, the price being the key factor. Recycled fibers are not a perfect solution as they are weaker and tend to break more easily and shed more microfibers. The Cora Ball and the Guppy bag help catch those microplastics when washing our clothes so that we stop them before they reach the water bodies. But there is a lot of things we can do to stop plastic pollution. And so we have created a list – with one tip per day- as part of our #plasticisnasty campaign. Let’s celebrate Plastic Free July! With our 31 tips to avoid plastic because #PlasticIsNasty! Bring your own cloth bags to do the groceries. Don’t buy beverages bottles in plastic. Glass or cans are better. If you buy them in plastic, make sure you recycle them. Check Zeloop recycling program! Don’t get to-go coffee or drinks. Bring your own mug or ask for a ceramic, reusable cup. Go to the farmer’s market to purchase fresh fruits and veggies that are not packed. Try to buy in bulk and store your food in glass containers. If you purchase something bottled in glass, clean it and reuse it! Compost your food waste. It helps reduce your use of plastic trash bags and reduce CO2 emissions. Line small -not wet- trash bins with paper bags. Dont use disposable face masks. They are made out of plastic too! Check these gorgeous fabric masks instead! How is the first week going so far? Don’t use plastic straws. Use paper ones or not use straws at all! Replace Ziploc with Stashers and Cling for Beewax wraps. Flu? Use cloth handkerchiefs, instead of paper ones. Better use baby bottles made of glass. Use stainless steel cups and bottles. Use cloth-based toys for your pets and kids. Think of selling or donating them once your child is not using them anymore. Buy cloth diapers. Half month is gone already! Way to go! Use menstrual cups or period underwear. Use reusable containers for takeaway- and to shop in bulk. Lunchtime? Don’t use plastic cutlery or disposable plates. Use bamboo or proper ones! Use toothpaste in bars or pills. Avoid plastic hangers. There are other alternatives in wood or even cardboard. Same with chopping boards- avoid plastic! Do not use disposable razors. Use blade refills. Try to avoid frozen foods as they come in plastic. Fresh and local foods are so much better. And the last tips of the month!!! Swap the plastic bottled shampoo and conditioner and use them in bars instead. Use a bamboo toothbrush instead of a plastic one. Avoid cotton swabs or buy the ones that have bamboo or paper sticks. Use the Cora Ball or the Guppy Bag to stop microplastic pollution. Use lotions that come in plastic-free containers. If not possible, check if they are recycled and recyclable. When you make an online purchase, request zero plastic shipping or accept that the
DISPOSABLE EARTH
LET ME BREATH
ASEPTIC FUTURE
Sterile
- free from living germs or microorganisms; aseptic: sterile surgical instruments.
- incapable of producing offspring; not producing offspring.
- barren; not producing vegetation: sterile soil.
- not productive of results, ideas, etc.; fruitless.
Botany.
- noting a plant in which reproductive structures fail to develop.
- bearing no stamens or pistils.
BEHIND THE SCENES
The hair is twisted, tied and pinned in complex patterns and wrapped in plastic or in wire.
Even where there is no need, we Humans still tend to use plastic.
Note: All the plastic used in the shooting is still available if any of you needs it. It is meant to protect floors or furniture when painting the walls.
Thanks for your continuous support! Together we can make a difference!
HAIR & MAKEUP
There was a reason why our beautiful models looked dehydrated, pale, emaciated, stressed and even agitated.. I can assure you they are beautiful inside and outside!
We wanted to show the struggle, the fight for our own survival. Plastic is asphyxiating our very existence. They are fantastic actresses and were able to show the agony. The MUAH did her magic too…
- Blue shade on the eyes is representing the Oceans.
- Pale skin and flakey lips are representing the sea pollution.
- Each year people are dumping plastic, debris, chemicals, crude oil & more..
- Half eye green and the other eye full green is representing the loss of trees and greenery around the world. If these precious habitats are lost, the creatures living in them, have an uncertain future.
- Pale skin and flakey lips are representing the Environment Pollution, dehydration, asphyxia.
- We did a special edition mask with Bubble Wrap representing the disposable masks that seemed to be everywhere. Do you know they have a layer of plastic?
- “Grow more trees to reduce pollution”
