Panel analyzes fast fashion

By EMMA VALES news Writer

o n Thursday, the Klau i nstitute for c ivil and h uman r ights hosted a panel titled “Labor, e xploitation and the e nvironment: FastFashion and Global s upply c hains,” featuring Professor Justine n olan from the u niversity of n ew s outh Wales s ydney. n olan is also the director of the a ustralian h uman r ights i nstitute.

n olan’s research focuses on the intersection of business and human rights, particularly the supply chain responsibility for human rights and modern slavery.

Panelists included second-year n otre d ame Law s chool student a lyssa d e s ouza, n otre d ame sophomore r aleigh Kuipers and n otre d ame junior b riana c happell.

The panel hosted guests in-person in Jenkinsn anovic h all, as well as on Zoom, allowing Professor n olan to present from a ustralia.

n olan began her presentation by sharing several shocking facts about the fast fashion industry. The world uses an estimated 80 billion pieces of clothing every year, which is a 400% increase from two decades ago, she said.

n olan also noted the fast fashion industry is the third-largest industry that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. n olan presented a question on regulating supply chains, asking the audience if there is a difference between responsibility and legal accountability. The answer, she said is yes. n olan then presented a case study that she did on the v eja sneaker company. The materials come from b razil, and the shoes are assembled there as well, so n olan went down to the a mazon rainforest to investigate. s he discovers that v eja makes a deliberate effort to pay workers in advance to ensure that they have a steady income.

The biggest concern within the fast fashion industry is that there are severe labor abuses within fashion supply chains, she said. The clothes are often produced cheaply, leading to poor working conditions for garment workers. n olan said this includes lack of living wage, forced overtime, forced labor, child labor, sexual harassment, health and safety concerns and a lack of union access.

When asked about what people can do about having fast fashion in their wardrobes, n olan said that “we all have fast fashion in our wardrobes, so what we can do is try to wear it out.” s he said our consumption of clothing ultimately impacts how workers are paid and fuels wages. n olan said we all likely have at least a few things in our wardrobe that were made with some exploitation, so it’s a matter of trying to keep wearing them.

“ i nstead of buying 10 new things, you might buy two things that are going to last longer,” she said.

To close her presentation, n olan noted that while there is a lot of bad news surrounding the labor and environmental effects with the fast fashion industry, some companies are trying to do things differently.

“There’s a lot of interest from consumers and people like [the panelists] that are making a difference and pressuring companies to create change,” she said.

Contact Emma Vales at evales@nd.edu