Op Ed on Racial Discrimination in Fashion Business of Fashion
O f all the shocks that the past few weeks and months have brought to all our lives, one of the biggest for me as a black woman working in the mode manufacture is that finally people are realising that racism is more than calling someone a derogatory name.
The killing of George Floyd while in police custody and the global outrage and protest that followed is bringing a dawning collective agreement that white supremacy relies on the exploitation of black and dark-brown people.
In the style industry the evidence to back up this enkindling is rife. Racism in mode runs to the very core of the industry, from the experience of blackness employees at companies such as @reformation to the lack of black models in your Instagram feeds.
Being black in the mode industry in the UK is knowing that all the makeup artists in a room accept no idea how to colour friction match your foundation. It is seeing a white woman monetising styles that y'all and your peers have been consistently ridiculed for. It is going to a printing show and people bold your concern volition never be able to afford to stock their clothing.
Yet information technology is the millions of black and brownish people making our clothes in factories thousands of miles away who bear the heaviest burden.
The fast manner industry has been reliant on the exploitation of garment workers since its conception. The UK spends billions on clothes every twelvemonth and nonetheless some garment workers only accept home £20 a week.
Of the 74 million textile workers worldwide, 80% are women of colour.
Brands have created a product model that keeps garment workers poor and working in unsafe weather condition to maximise their ain profits. The buying practices of fast fashion include turning a blind centre to illegal subcontracting and allowing forced and unpaid overtime. These practices have incentivised the erosion of garment worker rights by manufacturers and government.
The economical exploitation that fast fashion is reliant upon is a legacy of colonialism. From the 1500s until the middle of the 20th century, European imperialism was a way to create extractive states and oppress non-white people.
The legacies continue to this day. Western consumers want cheaper apparel and brands want to make larger profit margins. The knock-on injustices and exploitation in fashion'south supply chains are either accepted past consumers or obscured by witting marketing campaigns peddling female empowerment.
And now, when the Covid-19 epidemic has presented the world with the greatest claiming we have faced in a century, we take seen the fashion industry abandon these same workers.
In many countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, brands are refusing to pay for billions of pounds worth of orders they had already placed with suppliers. What that means is manufacturers that purchased material destined for our loftier streets are now stuck with piles and piles of unwanted wearing apparel. They are also unable to pay their workers. Hundreds of thousands of garment workers will lose their jobs considering of this refusal to pay upwardly.
For in that location to be meaningful change, brands need to pay garment workers living wages . It is actually that elementary. This is especially truthful if the person who owns the brand is a billionaire.
Even though the fashion industry is making small steps in increasing outward representation and equality – 47% of models at New York'due south most recent style calendar week were of people of colour – there is even so a long way to go.
Black people need equal representation at board level, across direction levels and in the creative spaces. For a cohort to be representative it needs to make upwardly at least 30% of the overall staff. It is not plenty to put one black person in a room or on a billboard.
And while the burden of responsibility lies with the businesses making huge profits, we likewise have a responsibility as consumers.
If yous are planning on raiding the high street for its post-lockdown sales the merely message you are sending is that yous are more willing to let them continue to leave garment workers in perpetual poverty so that yous can get a new slogan T-shirt stating "black lives matter" or "girl dominate".
Instead rethink and help united states bring change. Join the PayUp movement that is demanding fashion brands award their commitments to overseas workers. Support The Fashion Revolution and Fair Wear Foundation which are fighting for brands to care for garment workers with respect.
Support black-owned businesses, sign up to their newsletters. Only buy from ethical brands that are transparent about their business practices. Sign petitions and donate to causes that are making a difference such as: Stop the Illegal Export of Riot Equipment to the US from the U.k., Make White Privilege and Systemic Racism a Compulsory Part of the British Education Course and The 15% Pledge.
White allies, do it now: pull up.
PS: #Blacklivesmatter
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