coming to an end, and just about every brand celebrating their latest “sustainable” project or collection, it’s a good time to do a status check on the fashion industry. Where have we been, where are we now, and where are we going? How are we coming to grips with our industry’s massive social and environmental footprint?: circularity, natural fibers, recycled plastic fibers, zero-emissions fibers. But when we dig into these solutions, the marketing material doesn’t match the research.
I followed a conventional cotton bale as it made its way from Texas to China, where most of the world’s textiles for our clothes are produced. There on the factory floor, I saw raw cotton being spun with polyester to createof fabric; our industry makes enough to wrap around the earth 1,219 times. I snuck to the back of those factories and gasped for air as fumes from the chemicals flowed directly into a river adjacent to the plant.
Then I made my way back to the U.S., where I met the people responsible for getting the clothes into our closets: the distribution center workers. We don’t tend to think of them as part of the industry, but they are an essential piece of the puzzle, and their way of working is fast becoming the norm. In massive warehouses, I saw women and men trapped in a cycle of low wages and demanding work hours, forced to operate like machines—and one day, they’ll likely be replaced by them.
This seems important!
Diversity in hiring across the board is an excellent start 🌍
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Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »
Source: Forbes - 🏆 394. / 53 Read more »