The Future of Sustainable Fashion: Legislation Taking The Lead in 2023
By: Coco Corey
April 24th, 2023 will mark ten years since the horrific Rana Plaza disaster — the collapse of an eight-story commercial building in Bangladesh that took the lives of over 1,100 workers. Aside from causing environmental harm, reports of unsafe working conditions, underage workers, and unacceptable wages were made public after the tragedy. The devastating event started a global conversation. In May of 2015, The True Cost, a kickstarter-funded documentary that exposed the detrimental working conditions and environmental impact of the fashion industry, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival. Shortly after, the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes was the number one globally-trending topic on Twitter. This was also the year in which the concept of “circular fashion,” the idea that every piece of clothing should remain in use through either resell or renewal, was introduced in Sweden. In 2019, The Wall Street Journal broke a story concerning the human rights violations taking place in the cotton industry in Xinjiang, China. That same year, The Fashion Pact—a global coalition of companies with the goal of transforming the industry — was introduced by French President Emmanuel Macron and François-Henri Pinault, the Chairman and CEO of Kerig. There has been no shortage of conversation by industry leaders and activists regarding sustainability and reformation in fashion, but are they moving the needle? Has the industry made significant changes? Have consumer habits shifted? There is no debate that the industry's carbon footprint must be reduced, but what will it take to make that happen? Should we look to consumers? Labels? Or perhaps, is it in the hands of legislators to ultimately create and enforce change?
We are on the cusp of groundbreaking legislation that, if passed in 2023, will create new regulations and powerful advancements in the fashion industry. If the multinational fashion names won’t step up, and the outcries of activists are not enough, it seems that the legal system will deliver. The New York Times, articulates that “Governments and legislators appear to be waking up to the fact that companies are not reforming themselves at a pace and scale that will meaningfully combat climate change. As a result, in both the United States and the European Union, a raft of new regulatory proposals has emerged this year that are intended to drive greater sustainability in the textile and fashion industries.”
The Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change Act (The FABRIC Act) is America’s first federal fashion bill, introduced by United States Senator Kristen Gillibrand of New York this past May. The FABRIC Act has two main components: first, it would make paying workers per piece illegal and solidify hourly wages, and second, it would incentivize the industry to practice domestic production.
Another bill introduced in New York looks to expose fashion labels who are responsible for egregious environmental harm and human rights violations, and financially punish them as a result. The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, or The Fashion Act, was proposed this past January by New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and Assemblywoman Anna R. Kelles. This bill would require companies doing business in New York with over $100 million dollars in revenues — which includes every big-name fashion label — to disclose at least half of their supply chain. Vanessa Friedman for The New York Times states: “They would then be required to disclose where in that chain they have the greatest social and environmental impact when it comes to fair wages, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, water and chemical management, and make concrete plans to reduce those numbers…” Similar to The Fashion Act, The Fashion Worker Act, which was sponsored in March by New York Senator Brad Hoylman, will be up for a vote with New York legislators, providing basic labor protection for industry workers if passed.
The United States is not the only country pioneering new legislation. Akin to the goal of New York’s Fashion Act, in February of 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence that would require companies in many industries to identify human rights violations and environmental abuse throughout their value chains. In essence, companies will be forced to “come clean,” and take responsibility for their transgressions.
The European Commission has also proposed regulations focused specifically on promoting circular fashion. The ESPR, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, is a proposal that establishes a framework to improve product circularity. Elizabeth Paton of the New York Times writes, “A ‘digital product passport’ could store information like product durability and reparability, identify substances that might prevent a product from being recyclable, or even say how much recycled yarn is used in a sweater. The regulation would also require businesses to publicly disclose the destruction of unsold goods.”
As we await voting on proposed U.S. legislation and reported results from EU Directives, the conversation continues. The first Venice Sustainable Fashion Forum, which included brands such as Fendi and Prada, took place in October of 2022. One of the events featured Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) and the organization’s partnership with the United Nations’ Ethical Fashion Initiative; a combined effort to make sustainability reporting as clear as financial reporting. It is no secret that the fashion industry perpetuates a detrimental cycle where brands with the least regard for human rights and the environment reap the largest profits. Moving the needle toward sustainability may come in the form of a combined effort, with consumers, brands, and legislators creating the trifecta that demands lasting change in the fashion industry.