Directed by
Keil Orion Troisi, Igor Vamos
Cast
Len Leng, Igor Vamos, Isabell Schnalle, Paula Keilholz
Prankster activists perform an elaborate hoax to improve conditions for garment workers in the Adidas supply chain. Staging a shocking runway show at Berlin Fashion Week, they use humor and mischief to make the world pay attention to labor and environmental abuses that the massive sportswear brand is trying to hide.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Clean Clothes Campaign approached The Yes Men to develop a creative action that would dress down Adidas for pandemic-era labor abuses, specifically how the mega brand owes millions of euros to garment workers throughout their supply chain—and that’s on top an already growing pile of dirty corporate laundry!
In January, 2023, they orchestrated an elaborate media hack announcing that Adidas’ new CEO would share leadership with a garment worker, Vay Ya Nak Phoan (Len Leng). As this hit newswires at the start of Berlin Fashion Week, the second stage of the action unfolded… Fashionistas were shocked by a bloody runway show, seemingly from Adidas, which was in fact was the work of Berlin-based designer-activists Threads and Tits. Along with a website, subvertising campaign, press releases, and show swag, the shocking catwalk debuted styles that were “exhuastively pre-stressed by the underpaid workers who made them.”
The action resulted in widespread press coverage and social media buzz. Weeks later, Cambodian workers who had been fired for organizing were reinstated with back pay. In the months since, Clean Clothes Campaign and garment worker unions have won other victories, but Adidas still refuses to pay what they owe and to sign the Pay Your Workers agreement.
Category: Documentary/Short
Country of Origin: USA
Runtime: 21 min 28 sec
Screening online: October 8 – 4:40 PM
English 
Italiano