OP-ED: Fashion Is Broken, Is Policy The Answer?
Credit: Future Leap @ Sustainable Fashion Week 2021
by Amelia Twine, Founder of Sustainable Fashion Week + FR’s Sustainability and Social Justice Committee Co-chair
The damage caused by fast fashion and the need for change, has had some real traction in the news in recent weeks. We’ve seen Love Island’s big announcement on their partnership with eBay in outfitting the show’s contestants. And then last week’s big piece – SHEIN is attempting to address its reputation as an industry baddie by funding the work of the Or Foundation in Ghana to the tune of $50m. Intentionally or implicitly accepting some responsibility for the unimaginable heaps of our fashion waste outside Accra.
As the noise grows in the media and we become increasingly aware of how fundamentally broken the fashion system is, I question who is responsible. Both in terms of how we have come to be where we are today and where the responsibility lies to resolve the harm that occurs throughout fashion’s value chain. The harm to soils; to waterways; to communities living amongst toxic chemical inputs and discharges; to habitats and biodiversity levels. As well as the significant contributions to global carbon emissions and the exploitation of workers along the production chain, and particularly in ready-made garment factories.
If we were to believe the rather insidious narrative that has been running for a good few years now, big businesses would have you believe that it’s down to the consumer. The person making the purchase drives the operational model of the entire industry. Consumer demand is directly causing the harm. In this vein, the consumer must then adapt and alter their lifestyles and consumption choices to heal the wounds of fast fashion.
What is problematic with this narrative is that it ignores how the consumer is also being exploited by the system. The promise of more for less, the promise of how new clothing will make us feel, the suggestions of need and meeting desire are all carefully orchestrated in marketing campaigns to keep us buying. In truth, we’re not benefitting, and our wallets are being ever more stretched by poor-quality clothing with short lifecycles.
In reality, the responsibility lies where the money is. Follow the profit to see who’s pockets are getting fatter. Those pockets have accountability for creating and now resolving harm in fashion’s value chain.
The systemic network that connects farmers; animals; land; water; garment workers; brands; governments; consumers; charity shops; resale platforms; clothing waste in Ghana and Chile and the frightening levels of microplastics in the oceans and air. This represents how interconnected the issues are and how many factors are involved in each step of production, processing and use.
One bold change in one part of the system is not enough, the industry’s issues are so systemically knitted together – each step needs thought, attention and action. And this must be led by the brands who benefit from the system as it is. Executives and shareholders must come second to investment, in ensuring fashion stays within planetary boundaries.
And if the brands flounder, or their efforts produce results that are too slow, too ineffective and without real value to those suffering now, accountability then passes to the policy makers. Governments must take action now, leading on meaningful legislation which ensures environmental due diligence, ensures the protection of workers and communities both offshore and onshore and includes regulation and enforcement that is fit for purpose. Policy cannot simply focus on one aspect of fashion’s harm. Incentivising best practice in circularity, or human rights or the use of raw materials will not meet the urgency of the need for whole system change. Decent policy decisions will level the playing field and prompt the action currently lacking where brands are left to decide uptake of sustainability initiatives voluntarily. We see developments in policy taking shape in authorities across Europe and the USA and eagerly await news of how the UK will follow suit.
At Sustainable Fashion Week these are the changes we want to see now – brands and policymakers leaping into action. And while they drag their heels, we aim to harness the power of collective action on the ground to help make the demand for change even louder. Consumers cannot change the supply chain, but we can reconnect with how, where and by whom our clothing is made and refuse to participate in the current broken system until those with the power take accountability and action that ensures a sound future for us all.