OP-ED: Why a virtual fashion industry has dangerous implications for workers
Technology is hyped as the saviour of the pandemic, but its applications for the fashion industry do not come without risks for employees, says Camilla Rydzek
The fashion industry is embracing technology in the face of the pandemic, yet in contrast to other industries its implementations are far less straightforward than might be expected. The complexity of the supply-chain, as well as unique consumer tastes, make the role of human employees an essential part of implementing new and innovative technologies. As the current crisis has shown, however, humans still stand in the shadow of technology and as fashion continues its foray into this territory it needs to re-focus its attention on its workforce.
In the fashion industry, technology provided a “lifeline” for struggling companies as they acted to minimise the spread of Covid-19 by closing shops. In many ways the pandemic has accelerated the industry’s digital transformation. “This moment is going to be a catalyst for the industry to embrace digital more,” shared Drake Watten, the managing director and partner of the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG).
On a larger scale, big technology firms are some of the few winners of the pandemic, with a strong financial performance since late January. Specifically the big five - Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft - have benefitted, showing “$570bn of gross cash on their balance-sheets.” While they profit, smaller technology companies are being crushed and a phase of mergers and acquisitions is forecasted. The reach and power that big tech have, and are gaining through the pandemic, have been noted and strongly criticised by activist and author of “No Logo” Naomi Klein. She specifically voiced her concern regarding the way technology firms are re-branding in the face of the pandemic as a new kind of saviour – providing solutions to decrease the risk of the “bio-hazard” human interaction.
This idea, that previously human-to-human interactions such as education or work can now be facilitated through technology, is not easily translated into the fashion industry. In reality, it is quite impossible to create a sterile, shiny, “bio-hazard” free fashion industry. This, to the very least, is due to the nature of the product the fashion industry sells, which is textiles. In contrast to plastic of metal, fabric is too soft and too easily scrunched or twisted to be manufactured by robots, and instead requires human hands. Yet this is only one of the many ways in which fashion is highly reliant on a human workforce, across fashion design, production, shipping and sale.
In 2018 Yoox launched a private label which produced clothes designed by an AI, yet the majority of clothing today is designed by humans, with technological aid. While nascent “sewbot” tech could possible change the way clothes are manufactured in the future, today human hands still sew all our fashion. Stitch Fix, arguably one of the most technologically advanced fashion companies due to its highly sophisticated use of data prediction and unique algorithms to recommend clothing items to users, still employs thousands of personal stylists. As stores are now phasing a re-open in the UK, Galleries Lafayette is innovating the way it sells, relying on experienced sales assistants to chat with consumers via in-store video and help their online decision-making processes.
As e-commerce sales are spiking in the UK, with clothing sales of traditional retailers seeing an increase of 45%, so have the risks of the warehouse staff responsible for packing the orders. While retailers such as Next have taken steps to secure worker’s safety - closing stores as well as online fulfilment – disconcerting reports have also emerged of staff that have felt unprotected and unsafe.
Rent-The-Runway, a shining example of a technologically advanced fashion company and a start-up unicorn which last year cracked a $1 billion valuation– was called out in May by 22 current and former employees for continuing to operate after an executive order was placed for all non-essential businesses to cease operations. Using a legal loophole, workers were told to come in, even though they were feeling unsafe and had little protective equipment. In March, Mike Ashley of Sports Direct also disregarded a governmental call for non-essential retail to shut down, with warehouse staff speaking out about fears of COVID-19. He later apologised and conceded staff could stay home.
In China, e-commerce behemoth Alibaba reported on 22 May that it broke the $1 trillion mark in gross merchandise value counts, and counted 726 million annual active consumers. Its CEO Daniel Zhang commented “the pandemic has fundamentally altered consumer behaviour and enterprise operations, making digital adoption and transformation a necessity”. Yet, Bain & Co. partner Claudia D’Arpizio rates current fashion companies’ digital transformation as not being particularly strong. According to her, advanced fashion players rate 7 out of 10 (this representing “best-in-class”), with some only reaching a 4. Clearly there is still ample space for fashion to develop its capabilities in this space and also adopt technology in broader sense. However, in order to do this successfully and safely, fashion needs to find new solutions and regulations to support and build its workforce, as the notion that technology decreases risk to be infected with the coronavirus does not apply equally to all employees and consumers. As Covid-19 will remain a health hazard until a vaccine is created this issue needs to be addressed.
In Chinese, the word crisis has two meanings – danger and opportunity. In recent months this has been repeated often as an encouragement to change the way we operate and live today. In the context of fashion’s adoption of technology, my hope for the industry is that it will take this crisis as an opportunity to use technology as a tool to make lives better and safer— not only for consumers, but also for its employees across the supply chain.