The fashion industry is the 2nd largest polluter in the world, emitting 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Garments are the second highest at-risk category for modern slavery.
In 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story clothes factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,134 people and injuring over 2000 more. This was the first event to really shed light on the horrific conditions that people in the fashion industry are working under. This was when the “Fashion Revolution” was born. This is an extreme example, but there are so many other injustices occurring everywhere in this corrupt industry.
Many people have heard of “Boycott Boohoo” from summer 2020 when it was discovered that Boohoo’s factory workers are paid £3.50 an hour, which is classified as modern slavery. People realised that the clothes they were buying were cheap at the expense of the exploitation of others in the UK and abroad and collectively wanted to stop this.
Children work at all stages of the supply chain: from production of cotton seeds in Benin, harvesting in Uzbekistan, yarn spinning in India to putting garments together in factories across Bangladesh, which is a massive injustice and yet another way that the industry is harmful.
Consumers globally need to become aware of the unjust supply chains they often unknowingly feed into.
Written by Pippa Seager
Artwork by Delicia
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