Could COVID-19 Bring the End to Fast Fashion?

While you may be concerned your online spending has taken an unhealthy acceleration over the past few months due to pandemic induced boredom, it is clear that online shopping has taken a dramatic hit. 2020 has seen global apparel manufacturing drop into the negatives, with a 3% fall this year alone.

As events are cancelled, individuals are less likely to buy special outfits, meaning most fashion retail stores are forced to cancel orders from their manufacturers.

“Over 40 billion dollars’ worth of goods” have been poured down the drain, explains Ayesha Barenblat, founder of Remake, a nonprofit organisation advocating for the rights of fashion manufacturing workers.

The big impact of this is that the individuals that have already spent hours making these garments are left unpaid. Most fashion manufacturing companies are based in developing nations where women are their main employees. These large brands rely on production lines that churn out clothing at an incredibly fast pace and made at very low costs.

“That results in the direct varied human cost on the other end of the supply chain”, explains Clare Press, ethical fashion activist and owner of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast.

As most of these workers live in developing nations, there aren’t many avenues of work available. While it is these large-scale companies that are making the error by relying on fast cheap fashion, it is the garment worker that pays the price.

Not only this, but human rights are not upheld by the working conditions in many of these factories. “The big problem is, [fashion companies] don’t own the factories they work with,” Clare explains.

As offshoring has boomed within the last 5 – 15 years, many fashion retailers rely on cheap, unethical factories to manufacture their clothing. In September 2012, over 300 garment workers were killed after being trapped inside their factory during a fire. The windows were barred and exit doors locked; a practice maintained by factory owner ‘Ali Enterprises’ to ensure staff are not leaving the premise until permitted. Tragically, many individuals were unable to be identified as they had no contracts of employment.

It seems women of colour have been hit hardest by this issue. Factories in the developed world also mainly rely on women of mixed immigration status or undocumented statuses to produce clothing.

But the resounding issue of this financial crisis has finally reached the ears of these large-scale corporations. In March this year, over 200 000 signatures were collected by a Remake lead petition for fashion companies to pay their workers. From this, 18 global brands have joined the movement, such as Zara and H&M.

There is now a push to reuptake local production, as Australian regulation ensures a fair wage and treatment of workers. Perhaps now that these companies are taking action, this frontier may be a possibility.

A 2019 study found that fast fashion is on the rise however, with the continuing changing economic environment of the world, it is likely that this consumer engagement will fall. Now that these large-scale companies are being put in the spotlight for their transgressions, hopefully customers will be more aware of their buying behaviour and footprint.

“Sustainability is a good business strategy, being responsible is how you thrive in the future,” states Clare.

This year has seen incredible hardship for manufacturing workers, especially in the developing world. However, it is the great work of people like Ayesha and Clare that are bringing about change for the future to ensure these issues are no longer swept under the rug. As the public learns about the issues surrounding fast fashion and these companies are being held accountable for their actions, the future looks hopeful.

To find out more, listen to the podcast on Fast Fashion with Ayesha and Clare.