The fashion industry faces many challenges when choosing the path of sustainability.
One of the biggest challenges is the fashion companies’ inability to control their end-to-end supply chain.
Outsourcing to Developing Countries
Many fashion brands shift their production plants to developing countries where labour costs are way too low for different reasons, mainly to achieve cost efficiency.
Sometimes, subcontractors also get involved in producing and manufacturing fashion-based products to meet the excessive demand.
Sustainable fashion seems like a dream, but it can be achieved with hard work.
Unethical Practices in Developing Countries
Most of the time, production plants in developing countries rarely follow business ethics.
The exploitation of labour, Illegal child labour usage, Low salary payments and unsafe working conditions can be seen in these “Sweat Shops”. Many Crises have been reported recently in this regard.
Notable Incidents Highlighting Ethical Concerns
Example 01: Rana Plaza Collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh – 2013.
Rana Plaza was an 8-story building with several garment factories that made garments for foreign brands such as Benetton (Italy), Cato Fashion (USA), H&M (Sweden), etc.
Due to poor building quality, the building collapsed in 2013, and more than 1,100 garment workers were found dead.
Example 02: Fire destruction of Ali enterprises in Pakistan – 2012.
This accident caused the death of 289 garment workers.
The leading cause of this incident was the lack of proper fire exits in the garment factory’s building.
The tragic incidents took the world by storm and raised awareness of the hazardous impacts of fast fashion on society and the environment.
The Root Cause of Unethical Practices
If we dig deep into this issue, the main reason for these unethical business practices is Fashion brands’ lack of control over their fashion supply chain, as some parts of the supply chain are mainly outsourced or given to subcontractors.
These factories mainly operate to make profits and do not adequately take responsibility for their workers or the environment.
It is proven that many fashion manufacturing factories do not correctly manage production waste, pollute the environment with chemical disposition, and dump production waste.
Usually, fashion brands have no control over the environmental pollution these factories cause, as factories work according to their own rules and regulations.
Therefore, Fashion brands must find a solution to clean their supply chain from existing unethical practices embedded in some parts of the supply chain.
Among other Sustainability challenges, Fast fashion is another serious issue that Fashion brands should pay attention to.
Conclusion: Moving Towards Sustainable Fashion
The fashion industry can attain sustainability, and many thoughtful business models and practices must be invented and applied to its business strategy to overcome Sustainability challenges.
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