Fashion Forward: Emerging Sustainability Legislation Within the Fashion Industry
Historically, the fashion industry has remained notoriously underregulated when it comes to sustainability.[1] With new legislation introduced, however, change may be on the horizon. The fashion industry may one day no longer be able to hide behind self-regulation. The industry will have to face up to its poor sustainability and labor practices that have significantly contributed to climate change and the mistreatment of garment workers.[2]
Legislators in both the United States and the European Union have begun to realize that the fashion industry plays a significant role in climate change and can no longer be trusted to self-regulate. They have introduced new regulatory proposals to attempt to regulate businesses.[3] Alan McGill, the Global Head of Sustainability Reporting and Assurance at PwC, stated: “Policy and regulation we all know can have a significant impact on business, and if done in the right way for the fashion industry, it will encourage innovation, action, and progress in the key areas like climate change and supply chains.”[4]
In the U.S., the Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change (FABRIC) Act, America’s first federal fashion bill, aims to reform the garment industry. Traditionally, garment workers receive 2 to 6 cents per piece rather than per hour, translating to roughly $6 per hour.[5] The bill proposes that garment workers receive federal minimum wage rather than being paid per garment.[6] The bill also aims to instate a 30% tax credit for businesses that relocate their production back to the United States.[7] In a press release, Sen. Gillibrand stated that “this legislation would thread the needle of protecting workers’ rights, putting an end to abusive pay rates, and ensuring equitable compensation for garment workers while also making historic investments so we can not only make American but buy American.”[8] If passed, the FABRIC Act would have a wide-reaching impact on the garment industry and effectively force more ethical practices that are long overdue in the United States.
If passed in New York, the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (The Fashion Act) would make it the first state to require fashion brands that generate more than $100 million in revenues to account for their environmental and social impacts.[9] Large companies doing business in New York would be required to disclose their supply chains across all production tiers and pinpoint where in that process they create the most impact.[10] Upon disclosure, companies must reduce their effects per targets outlined within the bill.[11] The Fashion Act would allow consumers to hold fashion companies accountable when they are not reducing their impact to the targeted numbers by discontinuing purchasing from them until they do.[12]
This shift, however, from self-regulated corporations to extensive legislation in the U.S. is also at play in the EU. For example, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) proposes a “digital product passport” that could hold information such as the durability and reparability of a product as well as identify substances within a product that might make it unrecyclable.[13] In addition, it requires businesses to disclose the destruction of unsold goods.[14] This new regulation will likely significantly impact how clothes are manufactured because any products not in compliance with the requirements cannot be sold on the E.U. market.[15] The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Act is another sweeping act requiring companies to account for human rights protections and reduce pollution and biodiversity loss.[16] Companies would now be responsible for their subsidiaries' operations in addition to their own.[17] The fashion industry is notorious for having a complex supply chain, with many brands unable to answer specific questions about their supply chains simply because they do not have a handle on where their clothes are made and where the material comes from.[18] Requiring companies to take more interest in where their clothes come from is an essential step toward creating more sustainable and ethical clothing.
The shift towards an end to self-reporting within the fashion industry is an essential step towards combating climate change. Required reporting, however, is not enough to decrease the fashion industry’s widespread impact on the environment.[19] Some have described the disclosure regulation as a way to stall the swift action needed to reduce emissions.[20] Companies must drastically change their emissions by 2030 to meet internationally agreed-upon climate goals, and self-regulation alone will not be enough to reach this goal.[21] There is an imperative need for legislative action to expedite this vital transformation.
Camille Campbell is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVII.
[1] Rachel Deeley, The Sustainability Regulations That Could Reshape Fashion, Business of Fashion (June 15, 2021), https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/the-sustainability-regulations-that-could-reshape-the-fashion-industry/
[2] Michael Patrick Stuart, Sustainability in Style: The Legal Landscape Shaping the Fashion Industry’s Future, Miami Intl. and Comp. L. Rev.: Blog (March 7, 2023), https://international-and-comparative-law-review.law.miami.edu/sustainability-in-style-the-legal-landscape-shaping-the-fashion-industrys future/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20drive%20greater,chain%20responsibility%2C%20and%20product%20circularity
[3] Id.
[4] Deeley, supra note 1.
[5] S. 4213 (117th): FABRIC Act, govtrack, (last updated May 25, 2022), https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/s4213/summary.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Elizabeth Paton, The New Laws Trying to Take the Anxiety Out of Shopping, N.Y. Times, (September 30, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/fashion/fashion-laws-regulations.html#:~:text=The%20bill%20requires%20fashion%20companies,greenhouse%20gases%20and%20chemical%20use.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
[15] Id.
[16] Id.
[17] Id.
[18] Sarah Kent, What American Fashion Wants From Sustainability Regulation, (August 25, 2023), https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/american-fashion-lobby-sustainability-regulation-cfda-aafa-california/.
[19] Id.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.