The Clothes Make the Man but the Woman Makes the Clothes: Fast Fashion and the Exploitation of Women of Color

By Katie Miller

Introduction

Fast fashion describes how clothing is poorly made to keep up with quickly emerging fashion trends and consequently engages in a cycle. Companies produce clothing rapidly and cheaply to meet the demands of fifty-two “micro-seasons”[1]. The cheaply made clothes cannot withstand multiple wears, so consumers must buy new clothes frequently, thus creating the “need” for numerous micro-seasons. Again, companies produce in a manner that is conducive to fifty-two micro-seasons, and so on. To balance profitability with the demands of weekly micro-seasons, fast fashion companies engage in exploitative labor practices such as overworking and underpaying garment workers.  

Although the exploitation of garment workers also occurs in the Western world [2], most Western companies practice offshoring, a form of outsourcing that labor from countries that have less labor protection laws. For example, foreign garment workers are not protected by domestic labor laws such as the National Labor Relations Act [3] in the United States or the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 [4] in the United Kingdom. Offshoring primarily occurs in Asian countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, China, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, and the Philippines [5], thus targeting women of color who are the majority racial demographic in those countries. China is the largest apparel exporter in the world, and in Bangladesh, the garment sector “was a USD 42.6 billion industry that accounted for about 82% of the country’s total export revenue” as of 2021-22 [6]. Because the garment industry dominates these countries’ markets, workers have few other options and are essentially forced to endure the brutal conditions of the garment industry. 

Exploitation Experienced by Women of Color Constitutes Modern-Day Slavery 

The feminization of labor [7] means that exploitative working conditions disproportionately affect women, especially those who perform unskilled manual labor such as garment work: “A key feature of globalization is the flexible and strategic employment of large pools of female labor willing to work for low wages at monotonous tasks” [8]. In 2020, “Of the 74 million textile workers worldwide, 80% are women of colour” [9].

After interviewing fifty-seven Bangladeshi garment workers, the International Labor Rights Forum found that “workers experience their workload itself as a safety issue, preventing necessary restroom or food breaks, causing managers to deny even medically necessary work leaves to which they are entitled, or forcing them to work late when safety may be more lax and accidents more likely” [10]. In addition to issues caused by an excessive workload, workers experience physical safety issues such as boilers and wires catching fire, inaccessible fire equipment, narrow fire exits, and visibly dirty facilities which frequently cause illnesses among workers – for which they cannot get sick leave [11]. Beyond physical safety issues, workers experience social safety issues such as sexual harassment and violence, usually committed by management [12], even in countries like Cambodia and India where there are laws forbidding workplace sexual harassment [13]. In Indonesia, the Jaba Garmindo factory was investigated for “the firing of pregnant workers and the harassment of trade union members” [14] who still have not been compensated with severance pay because the Fair Labor Association determined that “current international and national legal standards do not impose this responsibility [to compensate workers after a factory closure] on sourcing brands” [15].

Such severe exploitation and mistreatment are hardly different from the way colonial powers forced non-white people to endure slavery. In fact, in countries like India and Uzbekistan, there are direct parallels to slavery where people – including children – work in fields under poor working conditions to reap the cotton that will be manufactured into garments for the fast fashion industry [16]. Exploitation has even led to protests and riots. In 2017, workers in Myanmar making $2.63 per day started a riot in an H&M Factory to protest horrible working conditions [17]. 

International Labor Protections 

After the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in which over 1,100 people were killed when a poorly-maintained factory in Bangladesh collapsed [18], more than 200 companies signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (“Bangladesh Accord”), and 26 companies signed the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (“Alliance”) to implement safety reform measures such as inspections as well as corrective measures [19]. While the Bangladesh Accord provides remediation to address workers’ concerns, the Alliance did not allow for meaningful worker or union representation. The twenty-six company signatories were all apparel companies. The lack of representation was worsened by the fact that the Alliance only allowed workers to report concerns through a helpline that did not substantially address reports. In fact, soon after an inspection by the Alliance, “two workers were fired, in apparent retaliation for their union activities” [20].  As a result, workers were effectively discouraged from creating unions to represent their interests. Thankfully, the Alliance – which was responsible for 1.3 million workers in 714 factories [21] – ceased operations after its five-year term which ended in 2018 [22].  

As for the Bangladesh Accord, both apparel companies and unions are signatories, granting unions greater power in addressing and resolving safety issues: there is a binding arbitration process and union leaders are trained to understand the Bangladesh Accord and its mechanisms [23]. Inspection reports are also translated to Bangla and distributed in factories that do not have unions [24]. Despite the Bangladesh Accord’s valiant efforts, workers still face retaliation from factory management who verbally abuse workers and oppose unions and union formation [25].

The Bangladesh Accord was subsequently renewed in 2021 and again in 2023 when it transitioned to the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry (“International Accord”) [26]. It establishes an agreement between trade unions and fashion brands to protect garment workers from “accidents that could be prevented with reasonable health and safety measures” [27] through “independent factory inspections, remediation, safety training, and an effective worker complaints mechanism” [28]. Signatories further commit to “exploring the expansion of [the International Accord’s] scope to include other human rights due diligence responsibilities” [29]. The legally binding International Accord creates Country-Specific Safety Programs (“CSSPs”) to be implemented in countries where offshoring is more common. CSSPs have been established in Bangladesh and Pakistan, with more to be established as the International Accord deems necessary. Although the International Accord provides hope for the protection of garment workers, there is still a gap in its coverage left unaddressed by the fact that the biggest fast fashion culprits like Shein and Forever 21 have not signed the International Accord [30]. 

Any solution to exploitative working conditions would likely shift the cost of production to the consumer, causing higher prices that may not be feasible for all consumers. However, the “Deloitte Access Economic report for Oxfam in 2017 found that paying a living wage to fast fashion garment workers throughout the supply chain may only increase the retail price of a garment by 1%. Similarly, researchers Hall and Wiedmann found that increasing the cost of clothing made in India by an average of 20c per item would be enough to lift all Indian garment workers out of poverty” [31]. This would give garment workers similar labor protections as those experienced by domestic workers at a very low cost.  

Conclusion

After the oil industry, “fast fashion is the #2 most polluting industry” [32]. In addition to its severe environmental impact [33], fast fashion creates a humanitarian crisis in which primarily women of color are exploited in the name of profit. To prevent gendered violence and unsafe working conditions, apparel companies must be held accountable for their role in exploiting these women. The government of the apparel companies’ home countries should require them to sign the International Accord and/or extend domestic labor protections to overseas workers.  

[1] Andrea Azevedo, The Impact of the 52 Micro-Seasons on the Environment, MEDIUM (Apr. 2, 2018), https://medium.com/@andreaazevedo_32670/the-effects-of-the-52-micro-seasons-on-the-environment-edd87951b74f. 

[2] See Ruben Rosalez, The Exploitation of Garment Workers: Threading the Needle on Fast Fashion, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR BLOG (Mar. 21, 2023),  https://blog.dol.gov/2023/03/21/the-exploitation-of-garment-workers-threading-the-needle-on-fast-fashion, (“Garment workers [in the U.S.] who make the looks you love are paid some of the lowest wages in the nation, sometimes as little as $1.58 per hour – well below the legal minimum wage.”); see also Natalie Kitroeff, Fashion Nova’s Secret: Underpaid Workers in Los Angeles Factories, THE NEW YORK TIMES (Dec. 16, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/business/fashion-nova-underpaid-workers.html#:~:text=In%20investigations%20conducted%20from%202016,by%20The%20New%20York%20Times (The U.S. Department of Labor “discovered Fashion Nova clothing being made in dozens of factories that owed $3.8 million in back wages to hundreds of workers”).

[3] See 29 U.S.C.A. § 151.

[4] National Minimum Wage: Policy on Enforcement, Prosecutions and Naming Employers who Break National Minimum Wage Law, GOV.UK (Feb. 20, 2024), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enforcing-national-minimum-wage-law/national-minimum-wage-policy-on-enforcement-prosecutions-and-naming-employers-who-break-national-minimum-wage-law#:~:text=The%20National%20Minimum%20Wage%20Act,or%20the%20National%20Living%20Wage. 

[5] Maya Cheav, Fast Fashion and Outsourcing, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY BLOG (Feb. 26, 2020), https://blogs.chapman.edu/sustainability/2020/02/26/fast-fashion-and-outsourcing/; Jaclyn McCosker, The Impact of Fast Fashion on Garment Workers, GOOD ON YOU (Aug. 11, 2023), https://goodonyou.eco/impact-fast-fashion-garment-workers/#:~:text=And%20to%20increase%20profit%2C%20fast,%2C%20Vietnam%2C%20and%20the%20Philippines.  

[6] The Rana Plaza Disaster Ten Years On: What Has Changed? International Labour Organization (Apr. 2023), https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/rana-plaza#intro [hereinafter The Rana Plaza Disaster]. 

[7] See Rebecca L. Zahn, Roger Blanpain, Susan Bisom-Rapp, William R. Corbett, Hilary K. Josephs, and Michael J. Zimmer. the Global Workplace: International and Comparative Employment Law, Cases and Materials, 20 Eur. J. Int’l L. 947, fn. 2 (2009) (“women account for 40% of the worldwide workforce but make up a majority of the working poor”).

[8] Laura A. Foster, Situating Feminism, Patent Law, and the Public Domain, 20 Colum. J. Gender & L. 262, 310 (2011). 

[9] Kalkidan Legesse, Racism is at the Heart of Fast Fashion – It’s Time for Change, THE GUARDIAN (Jun. 11, 2020), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/11/racism-is-at-the-heart-of-fast-fashion-its-time-for-change. 

[10] Our Voices, Our Safety: Bangladeshi Garment Workers Speak Out, International Labor Rights Forum 58 (Dec. 2015), https://laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications/Our%20Voices,%20Our%20Safety%20Online_1.pdf [hereinafter ILRF]. 

[11] Id. at 59-60.

[12] See Annie Kelly, Worker at H&M Supply Factory Was Killed After Months of Harassment, Claims Family, THE GUARDIAN (Feb. 1, 2021), https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/01/worker-at-hm-supply-factory-was-killed-after-months-of-harassment-claims-family. 

[13] See Aruna Kashyap, Tackling Sexual Harassment in the Garment Industry, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (Dec. 11, 2017), https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/11/tackling-sexual-harassment-garment-industry#:~:text=Similarly%2C%20in%20Cambodia%2C%20workplace%20sexual,how%20to%20perform%20their%20tasks.  

[14] Uniqlo and the Women Owed $5.5 Million, CLEAN CLOTHES CAMPAIGN (Mar. 6, 2020), https://cleanclothes.org/news/2020/uniqlo-and-the-women-owed-55-million. 

[15] Jaba Garmindo, Indonesia, FAIR LABOR ASSOCIATION (Jul. 8, 2021), https://www.fairlabor.org/reports/jaba-garmindo-indonesia/.  

[16] See David Browne, Child Labour and Exploitation in India’s Cotton Fields, EQUAL TIMES (Jun. 12, 2015), https://www.equaltimes.org/child-labour-and-exploitation-in?lang=en; see also Forced and Child Labour in the Cotton Industry, WORLD VISION ACTION (2012), https://www.worldvision.com.au/docs/default-source/buy-ethical-fact-sheets/forced-and-child-labour-in-the-cotton-industry-fact-sheet.pdf?sfvrsn=2#:~:text=This%20occurs%20when%20children%20are,of%20their%20health%20and%20education29.

[17] See Cheav, supra note 5. 

[18] The Rana Plaza Disaster, supra note 6. 

[19] See ILRF, supra note 10 at 69. 

[20] Id. at 73.

[21] An Industry Transformed: Leaving a Legacy of Safety in Bangladesh’s Garment Sector, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety Fifth Annual Report 9 (Nov. 2018), https://bangladeshworksafety.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/alliance-fifth-annual-report-2018.pdf.  

[22] See generally Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety,  https://bangladeshworksafety.org/.  

[23] See ILRF, supra note 10 at 78.

[24] Id. at 79.

[25] Id. at 81-82.

[26] International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, 1 November 2023, https://internationalaccord.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/International-Accord-for-Health-and-Safety-in-the-Textile-and-Garment-Industry-1-November-2023_Public-Version.pdf (entered into force 1 November 2023).  

[27] Id. at 1.

[28] Statement on Agreement on International Accord Framework for Health and Safety Programs (Nov. 6, 2023), https://internationalaccord.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Statement_Agreement-on-International-Accord-framework-for-Health-and-Safety-programs-Updated-on-20-Nov-2023.pdf.  

[29] International Accord, supra note 26 at 1. 

[30] See generally Signatories of the International Accord, https://internationalaccord.org/signatories/?_signatory_categories=international-accord&_paged=3. 

[31] McCosker, supra note 5.

[32] Azevedo, supra note 1. 

[33] See Kirsi Niinimäki, The Environmental Price of Fast Fashion, Nat Rev Earth Environ 1, 189–200 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0039-9.