which sets out seven demands, including asking brands to sign enforceable contracts with factories to guarantee they will be paid. According to Caspelich, the campaign was able to recoup at least $15 billion of the estimated $40 billion owed to garment factories worldwide.
What has become clear this year is that the public wants the brands they buy from to change. “It’s been super cool for us to see this new breed of social media activists who are demanding accountability and meaningful change within the fashion industry,” says Caspelich. “In our opinion, social media has the ability to magnify and transmit the power of protest.
For the brands and retailers, there was nowhere to hide. Sure this was a global crisis.
The hope is that brands will rethink their relationships with their factories and change their purchasing practices – the way they negotiate and mercilessly drive down contracts with factories. Clothes are a commodity, but the people who make them are human beings whose labour must be fixed at a rate that cannot be negotiated. “A strong campaign can make or break brands –sometimes overnight,” says Caspelich.