Pay Up: Consumers Push Back Against Fast Fashion

Lucy Hayes explores the recent online campaigns demanding ethical treatment for workers in the fast-fashion industry

With younger generations leading the way for conscious consumerism the demand for sustainable fashion has tripled in the last 4 years. According to a report titled “Fashion’s New Must Have: Sustainable Sourcing At Scale” companies still have a long way to go in order to meet the demand for sustainability. There have been many ongoing campaigns to fight the economic and environmental destruction caused by large fast-fashion groups like Arcadia and Boohoo (who own Pretty Little Thing and Nasty Gal) including the ‘who makes my clothes’ campaign which aimed to bring awareness to the garment workers who manufacture clothing around the world. 

Most recently another campaign has gained traction online for bringing attention to the dangerous conditions and underpayment of garment workers both in the UK and across the globe. As the Covid-19 pandemic left many large garment factories in countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia losing contracts with retailers, many factories were shut down leaving thousands of workers jobless. In many of the poorest areas of the world, these textile factories provide a huge portion of income to local people and once contracts were lost they had nowhere to go and no financial support. Campaigners rallied against these fast-fashion companies to continue to support the workers who had made their clothing for years with little to no support. 

In Leicester, a similarly disturbing story of underpaid workers being forced to keep silent about possible Covid-19 symptoms so they could continue to work. These factories who supply clothing to Boohoo continued to work at 100% capacity with no PPE or social distancing measures in place according to a report by Labour Behind the Labour. Boohoo denies both these allegations and the reports that some workers earn less than £3 per hour at these factories. 

Garment workers, both in the UK and internationally are estimated to be mostly Black and Indigenous People of Colour. The exploitation of these marginalised communities in the garment and textiles industry is a reflection of the fast-fashion industry as a whole. Cheap wages and lack of care for environmental impacts are what drive the prices down for consumers. 

But as these stories have continued to emerge, the consumers are fighting back. Across social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok, activists pushed for a boycott against Boohoo and its subsidiaries. Fashion advocacy group Remake, founded by Ayesha Barenblat, has asked that Boohoo Pay Up to support its garment workers both in the Uk and across the globe. They have so far managed to recoup over $7 billion in unpaid garment workers wages from 16 brands (as of June 2020) 

image from remake.world

Similarly #PullUporShutUp, formed by Sharon Chuter, in the wake of protests surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement urged companies to post statistics on how many of their employees were black. And begin an action plan targeting how they need to do better to represent the black community. They call for transparency within large companies about what they’re doing, actions rather than words. 

Many companies posted on their social media channels to display their statistics and it was shocking to see even “ethical” brands such as Reformation display that only 1% of corporate employees were black and 0% of warehouse workers. Chuter who is also the founder of successful Uoma Beauty is continuing conversations with these brands and advising them on how to foster black talent within their business. 

The effects of both of these successful campaigns prove the impact that consumers can have on business and their dedication to issues of race, ethical treatment of workers and environmentalism. Todays consumers, particularly younger ones, are choosing to vote with their money. They are more engaged and informed about their shopping decisions than ever, with the internet allowing them to find out the information needed to choose companies based on values they support. 

Fashion is a huge consumer-driven industry, and its being made very clear to the owners of these power-houses of fast-fashion that consumers demand better. Better for them, better for the workers and better for the planet. It’s no doubt we will continue to see large-scale campaigns fighting for these issues in the future as the power of the people continues to grow.