Sustainability has become a buzzword in fashion over the last few years as demand for a greener and more ethical industry grows. In 2015, The True Cost documentary was released in the wake of the Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013 that resulted in the death of over 1,100 Bangladeshi garment workers. Directed by Andrew Morgan, the documentary brought attention to the environmental impacts caused by fast fashion and the haunting realities of modern-day slavery that is evident at factories working tirelessly to meet the demands of fast-fashion giants such as H&M, Forever 21, Topshop, and Zara.

The True Cost triggered a considerable shift in the behavior of consumers globally, and initiated crucial conversations that we needed to have long before the Rana Plaza factory collapsed. I stopped shopping fast fashion over 3 years ago and began learning about where and how our clothes are made, and on the state of my country’s largest industry — textiles. It wasn’t until I entered the apparel manufacturing industry that I realized exactly how devastating the fashion industry truly is. Devastating on our planet and devastating on the people that make our clothes.

We tend to take things for granted, forgetting to take a step back to ask questions like, “Why is this t-shirt only $4.99?”. Ignorance isn’t bliss, in fact it can be dangerous. The 1,100+ Rana Plaza factory workers who lost their lives is indisputable grounds for why anyone who wears clothes can’t afford to turn a blind eye. Cheap labor in third world countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and others, along with using environmentally damaging materials like virgin polyester and conventional cotton are typically how prices are kept low. The working conditions at these manufacturing facilities are extreme, often life-threatening, and majority don’t meet compliance standards.

BANGLADESH’S STANCE AFTER THE RANA PLAZA COLLAPSE

As the second largest apparel exporter to the world, Bangladesh acknowledges that it has tremendous responsibility in terms of leading initiation and innovation in the future of manufacturing. The country is asking questions like, “How do we make this industry sustainable?” and even, “What technologies can facilitate that?”

Two buyers platforms, Accord and Alliance, signed a legally binding agreement in 2013 as a direct response to the Rana Plaza tragedy between international brand retailers and trade unions to improve the safety of ready-made-garments (RMG) factories in Bangladesh. European brands are under Accord, while American brands are under Alliance. Factory inspections are implemented by both these platforms, and Corrective Action Plans and audit records were released for the public to access. Owners of these factories had to invest between 5 crore to 20 crore BDT in order to remedy the conditions of their operational facilities and to be classified as compliant by Accord and Alliance. Over 1000 factories still remain unaudited by these platforms as brands that manufacture in those factories have not joined these initiatives.

Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh | Shutterstock

Fast forward to 2018, the State Minister for Labor and Employment has asked Accord and Alliance to end their operations in Bangladesh by December 2018 as he states 3,780 RMG factories have already been inspected, and the country guarantees no such incidents like Rana Plaza will occur in the future. He also states that the Remediation Coordination Cell, launched in May 2017, will ensure long-term sustainability and fire safety, and will also take over the responsibilities of the factories assessed by Accord and Alliance.

The reality, however, is that Bangladesh is only one of the many cheap manufacturing countries that are home to factory disasters and worker exploitation. Sean Cady, the Vice-President of the Global Supply Chain and Responsible Sourcing of VF Services and a Board Member of Alliance, has said they will be launching Life and Building Safety (LABS) initially in Vietnam and India, and then Cambodia, Pakistan, and Myanmar. Organizations like Accord and Alliance need to set up base in other low-priced manufacturing countries if we want to scale the positive outcomes experienced in Bangladesh to actually transform this industry, and the formation of LABS is a step towards the right direction.

THE PROMINENCE OF WORKER EXPLOITATION IN FASHION

According to The International Labor Organization (ILO), 170 million children are occupied in child labor worldwide, with most of them in the garments industry working to meet the demands of consumers in the West. The United Nations (UN) defines child labor as “work for which the child is either too young — work done below the required minimum age — or work which, because of its detrimental nature or conditions, is altogether considered unacceptable for children and is prohibited”. Child labor is heavily prevalent in third world countries, and although ILO’s estimation has seen a 30% decline between 2000 and 2012, 11% of our world’s children are still deprived of education because going to school means they can’t be a source of income for their poor families.

Children in rural parts of Southern India are lured in to work at spinning mills as recruiters convince their parents that their child will earn good money, live comfortably, and be given 3 meals everyday. The unfortunate reality is that these are all false promises, and these children are kept in horrific conditions and treated like slaves. Fashion supply chains are incredibly complex making it difficult to oversee every stage of production, and the truth is that children are preferred over adult workers as they can be managed with more ease and are more in demand for tasks such as crop picking.

Child labor in garment factories | Shutterstock

We hear of the ubiquity of child and forced labor, as well as unfair pay in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, but such practices aren’t only exclusive to those parts of the world. Consumers have come to believe that Made In USA is synonymous with ‘ethical’, but that’s just not the case. In Los Angeles, which is home to majority of the garment workers in the United States, many workers are paid well below the minimum wage, at times only earning as little as $5 an hour, and are working 11 hours 6 days a weeks. Most of these workers are undocumented Latinos working at factories owned by East Asians, and their livelihoods are in the hands of manufacturers, brands, and even consumers.

THE BLAME GAME

It’s not fair on or realistic for factory owners to bear the brunt of the blow. Factory owners are mostly trying to make ends meet themselves. If they attempt to raise their prices in order to pay their workers better and put into effect safer working conditions, companies threaten to end relations with them and move to another factory with lower prices. This is something I have personally experienced during my years in manufacturing, and in fact, most of our investment went into building a factory that went above and beyond to ensure safety and comfort for our employees. We even attempted to pay them twice the minimum wage. Alas, this wasn’t feasible because companies perceived us as too expensive to work with and didn’t want to contribute to ensuring the workers were paid fairly.

Does this mean that it’s logical to blame the fashion companies then? Not entirely, although I do believe that they are in more advantageous positions than others in the supply chain. However, they don’t have a way to track every single entity involved in developing their materials or creating their products, and factories often subcontract without companies ever being privy to that information.

It’s easy to play the blame game but the truth is that we’re all responsible in our own ways. We’d be making better progress if we looked at our own involvement in the industry and reflected on how we possibly might be fueling the injustices that take place. This is more of a pragmatic approach to repairing the industry versus relying on other people and businesses to lead the way. We all have our own part to play; this means that consumers need to realize that they hold significant responsibility also. Their demand is what drives the supply, and therefore they should be questioning where their clothes are coming from and who’s making them prior to purchasing a product. This shift in consumer behavior will hold factories and companies accountable and force them to change their unethical practices.

MAKING PROGRESS

The industry has been witnessing change, though slow, primarily through the efforts of initiatives. The Fashion Revolution’s movement in making the industry transparent has gained tremendous attention since its inception 5 years ago. Their hashtag #whomademyclothes urges consumers to ask brands who’s involved in the making of their clothes with the intent of ultimately leading to a more transparent supply chain. Fashion Revolution is amazing because it encourages people to be curious, ask questions that are important, and they put a human face on those who are otherwise ignored. If you’re wondering how you can take action through Fashion Revolution, here’s how you can get involved.

We have access to all the information at our fingertips and that enables us to make informed choices and create positive impact easily. Let’s take the Good On You app for instance; users can view the affects of a brand on animals, people, and the planet all through a quick search. Good On You has gathered data on thousands of brands which they rate out of five in order to help consumers make educated buying decisions. They explain the rating the brand has received, and break it down according to the impact that the brand has on its workers, the environment, and animals. In their rating, Good On You also takes into consideration whether or not the brand is taking measures to hold the industry to higher standards. Furthermore, you can look for brands that match your values and your style and even tell brands, “Hey, you should be doing better.” I highly recommend downloading the app. If you want to learn more about Good On You, check out their About page.

Fashion companies, along with non-profits and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have also come together to develop tools for brands, retailers, and facilities. This is known as The Higg Index, brought into being by The Sustainable Apparel Coalition in 2012. The Higg Index was launched to equip the apparel and footwear industry with tools to measure their environmental and social impact throughout the supply chain. Adidas Group, H&M, Inditex, Levi’s, Lululemon, Patagonia are only a few of the 200+ members of The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, where members join forces to bring about sustainable change in the industry. If you want to know more about how this works, see here.

Individual brands have inaugurated their own initiatives to tackle the social challenges prominent in the industry too. In 2015, when Patagonia discovered slave labor in its supply chain, they immediately made it a top priority to solve the problem. The company partnered with an NGO to protect workers in their supply chain, and also established rules that factories would need to abide by if they intended to work with Patagonia.

But Patagonia is known to be a socially conscious company, what about companies that don’t have this goodwill? What are they doing to become more socially responsible? If you search for H&M in the Good On You app, you’ll find that the company has three stars and an ‘it’s a start’ rating. You may be scratching your head at this seeing that H&M is notorious for its unsustainable practices, but recently they’ve been striving to change that. In 2017, they released a Sustainability Report highlighting their vision to be a catalyst for change in the industry. The ambitious, but impressive, report touches on many issues including their goal to be a fair and equal company for the 375,000 workers they employ globally. H&M admits that their goals are challenging and so they emphasize the need for collaboration. They are right; collaboration is key. One organization can’t be expected to fight this battle alone.

The industry has a long, long way to go but the silver lining is that we are finally seeing behavior-shifts both in businesses and consumers. The fashion industry has been around for centuries so change isn’t going to happen overnight. What we are seeing now, even if some may consider this negligible, are levels of transparency growing and those in different stages of supply chains being held accountable. The industry recognizes that it needs to step up and adapt to modern day expectations. Similarly, consumers are beginning to understand that their choices do make a difference. The surface has just been scratched; we all need to get involved and keep doing our part.