Caramel Rock x Commonwealth Fashion Council 2023

Exploring child labour in the fashion industry

Child Labour Collage (2023-06) by Caramel RockCommonwealth Fashion Council

Caramel Rock and Commonwealth Fashion Council highlight the work of emerging fashion designers looking at the issues of child labour. 

The students explore the historical and ongoing child labours in various global brands across the world, manifesting the idea to fight for children's rights through shapes, colours, fabrics, symbols, and even a song!

JustLit Stop Child Labour (2023) by Alonzo "Anurah" FarrellCommonwealth Fashion Council

Alonzo (Anurah) Farrell

Alonzo is studying level 1 Fashion B-Tec. He aims to succeed in level 2 and start a fashion business. His personal values include justice, equality and fairness. He enjoys telling stories through lyrics and Imagery.

Alonzo holds level 3 diplomas in music engineering, including Iive recording, health and nutrition, and electrical installations. He has a keen interest in fashion, films and music.

"I want to make a design that is entertaining and thought-provoking but not too intense, so the viewers could engage in the conversation regarding this topic and still remember the actual design."

JustLit Stop Child Labour (2023) by Alonzo "Anurah" FarrellCommonwealth Fashion Council

He researched the fashion industry using child labour in India, the impact of it on the children and the businesses. Using Google combined with Ai, he completed the research on child labour. 

He pieced the design together by first creating an image. This inspired him to write the lyrics for this particular topic of child labour and use the term Justlit in his work to wake the majority of people regarding the topic of child labour.

JustLit - Stop Child Labour
00:00

JustLit - CountyLines - Stop Child Labour

I remember back in the day, 
Grinding hard for a penny,
My hands 
Raw from work, 
Ain't no time to be friendly,
Aye young G, 
Tryna make it, 
This world so grimy, So So grimy
But the system got me trapped, 
Living life like a slave,
...

Meet Alonzo (Anurah) Farrell

Child Labour in China (2023) by Qingqing CaiCommonwealth Fashion Council

Qingqing Cai

Qingqing has finished her level 2 art and design course. She will start her foundation diploma in fashion and textiles this September.

Before being involved in the fashion industry, Qingqing had already got 2 bachelor’s degrees. One is oenology and viticulture in China, and the other is Sommelier in France. She has multiple working experiences in wine & fashion: Wine Marketing Assistant, wine journalist, model, actor, and live streamer.

Child Labour in China, Qingqing Cai, 2023, From the collection of: Commonwealth Fashion Council
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Her work is filled with her personality and compassion towards the world. She picked Chinese children who work for a multinational entertainment company for this child labour project. She focuses on expressing the unfair consequences of fabric materials and personalised manipulations.

She pieced her work based on the mood board. After researching all related artists in this area, she thought camouflage was the best way to express this topic. She expected her work can remind audiences to start to think of something happening in the fashion industry and this society.

Qingqing Cai's Project

No Child Labour! (2023) by Sukhwinder ChandiCommonwealth Fashion Council

Sukhwinder Chandi

Sukwinda is studying level 1 Fashion B-tec. She aims to work towards running a catwalk show and showcasing her next collection during a fashion show. Her signature style is mixing Western and Indian cultures to make something different.


Sukwinda is a very positive person, a quick learner who always wants to bring everyone together. She researched one of the world's well-known athletic apparel and footwear brand that uses children as labour.

No Child Labour!, Sukhwinder Chandi, 2023, From the collection of: Commonwealth Fashion Council
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"I am overwhelmed and saddened to have discovered this information. I hope this awareness will help inform people to help bring about change."

Sukwinda researched her designs, took ideas to develop her banner, and mixed the use of colours to create her message and design.

Designs by Sukhwinder Chandi

No More Child Labour (2023) by Ameema HaqCommonwealth Fashion Council

Ameema Haq

Ameema is studying level 1 Fashion B-tec. One day she hopes to become a fashion designer after continuing her learning journey and making her way to university.

Ameema's values include being nice to yourself and the environment. She loves dressing and doing her hair and makeup for special occasions.

Ameema researched one of the global fast fashion retailer for its involvement with child labour. She had no idea before that this brand would use child labour. She created a design by customising a T-shirt by cutting out letters in gold and painting in the style of the famous painter Liu Bolin, and draping silk fabric over the t-shirt to keep the style aesthetic close to the brand's design.

No More Child Labour, Ameema Haq, 2023, From the collection of: Commonwealth Fashion Council
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Ameema's Project

No Child Labour (2023) by Gonche SaidiCommonwealth Fashion Council

Gonche Saidi

Ghonche is studying level 1 Fashion B-tec. She hopes to continue her learning journey and become a fashion designer someday.

Gonche's personal values include being honest, kind and hard-working. She loves fashion, especially makeup with different hairstyles and flowers. Flowers are important to her as her name means a flower.

Ghonche researched an athletic apparel and footwear brand that uses child labour. She was shocked to learn that such a successful brand uses little children as labourers.

No Child Labour, Gonche Saidi, 2023, From the collection of: Commonwealth Fashion Council
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Ghonche created a banner using an image of a window shop display that stays in people's minds and can be used to educate the world regarding child labour in the fashion industry.

She also used the brand's jersey and customised it by adding text and flowers to highlight child labour. The flowers represented a core part of her design, as children are sweet and innocent just like flowers.

Meet Gonche Saidi

Behind Beauty, Two Chained Hands (2023) by Ange GloryCommonwealth Fashion Council

Ange Glory

Ange Glory is currently in level 1 Fashion B-tec. Her design principles are innovative, luxurious, and sustainable.

Ange is also interested in visual and performing arts, using various artists’ works for her inspiration. She researched children working in the cotton harvest in countries reputed as the best cotton producers in the world. She looked at different artworks from artists who mostly talk about child labour in their works. 

She wanted to convey an effective message about the realities in the fashion industry; thus, she created a dress, a design we usually see in one of the brands that use child labour.

Behind Beauty, Two Chained Hands, Ange Glory, 2023, From the collection of: Commonwealth Fashion Council
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The design contains a drawing of two chained hands. One bigger and one smaller (Which means children are being used regardless of age). Using two colours means different races, which leads us to understand that child labour happens in different places worldwide.

"The front part of the dress is the nicest part with features we usually like, plus the shiny beads. Yet, the back part of the dress is where I talk about child labour as a type of slavery. My message is clear: Some brands present a nice part of Fashion on the front and hide many dark realities behind the scenes."

Ange's Project

Credits: Story

Caramel Rock and Commonwealth Fashion Council thank our emerging designers for their contribution!

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions (listed below) who have supplied the content.

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