The coronavirus outbreak has yet again shed light on the questionable practices of one of the world’s most polluting industries. Emily Macintosh argues government bailouts should fund a wardrobe change for the fashion industry. 

As consumer demand for fashion crashed during global lockdowns, many brands cancelled orders and delayed payments to suppliers. Millions of the vulnerable workers who make the world’s clothes have been left without vital income or social protection. The huge leverage companies have over the livelihoods of the people who power their profit has been exposed once again.

Campaigners have been working to highlight this power imbalance and the impact of overproduction for decades, calling out human rights abuses such as the Rana Plaza factory collapse, the impact of chemical pollution and the huge amount of our planet’s natural resources guzzled by the sector every year. 

Just before the COVID-19 crisis, the European Commission announced it is working on new EU laws to tackle waste and exploitation in the textile industry, one of a slew of initiatives born out of the landmark European Green Deal launched by the Commission at the end of last year in a bid to tackle the climate and environmental crisis and secure jobs through sustainable economic activity. Over the coming months, civil society groups, including the European Environmental Bureau, will continue campaigning for the new textile laws to set strict rules on environmental protection and purchasing practices.

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