It’s been more than a decade since the Rana Plaza factory disaster occurred. The eight-story building collapsed in 2013, killing over 1000 people and injuring over 2000, most of whom were female garment workers who produced clothes for Western retailers. That was the world’s first glimpse at the horrors of fast fashion and the true cost behind our cheap clothing.
Years later, advancements have been made in building safety, but garment workers continue to be exploited, and worse, fast fashion is only becoming faster.
As responsible consumers, many of us try to find ways to fight against these unethical fast fashion brands. Organizations such as Fashion Revolution have formed to increase transparency in the fashion supply chain. Thanks to them, we not only have a better understanding of who is making our clothing and where, but we’ve also become more familiar with the signs of what a fast fashion brand is so we can avoid them.
As a rule of thumb, if they’re cheap, mass-produced, poor quality, and have new styles of clothing hitting the racks almost every week, they’re fast fashion—and the chances of them being made in sweatshops like the Rana Plaza garment factory are also highly likely. But this then begs the question, if cheap fast fashion clothing is unethical, does that mean luxury clothing is ethical? With how high some garments are priced, one would think that surely they must be paying their workers fairly. Sadly, that always isn’t the case.
Is Luxury Fashion More Ethical Than Fast Fashion?
Luxury fashion manufacturing requires highly skilled artisans, technicians, and workers, whose wages are often higher than those of mass production workers due to their exceptional expertise and rarity. But over the years the definition of luxury has become less about quality and more synonymous with having a high price point.
Herein lies the problem, because not all items that come with a steep price or luxury label are inherently high quality, and the brands that we typically think of as “high-end” or “designer”, aren’t always produced the way we expect.
The notion that luxury brands are typically more ethical stems partly from their association with slow fashion, operating at a deliberate pace and releasing just two collections (spring/summer and autumn/winter) annually. However, many brands have adapted their business models to compete with fast fashion by ramping up their collection releases to as much as five times ( additional "intermediate collections" which include the pre-spring, pre-fall, and resort/cruise collections) a year or even more.
But even then, you can’t just take into account the rate at which their clothes are being produced but how and from where they’re sourcing their materials. Take Loro Piana, for example. This "quiet luxury" brand hasn’t been so quiet lately, especially after it was revealed to be exploiting farmers. This brand is known for its exquisite fabrics made from rare Vicuña fibers found in the Andes mountains. Sounds luxurious, right? But here's the catch: Despite Loro Piana selling a single vicuña sweater for a whopping $9,000–that’s half a million pesos–the Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Andes, who've been collecting these prized fibers exclusively for the brand for over three decades, are barely earning. While Loro Piana thrives, the village of Lucanas, with its 2,700 residents, is still grappling with poverty. The Lucanas farmers don’t get enough money from the brand to pay everyone. And in a 2018 study, it was revealed that a staggering 80% of the town's folks felt they hadn't benefited at all from this trade.
The brand's three-decade involvement with this community underscores the vital importance of transparency, not only for fast fashion but also for luxury brands. Shockingly, the 2023 Fashion Transparency Index reveals that a whopping 96% of major brands, including luxury names, don't disclose how many of their workers earn a living wage. Even more surprising, luxury giants like Tom Ford, DKNY, and BCBGMAXAZRIA ranked among those with the lowest transparency scores.
It becomes increasingly clear that it’s a myth that luxury brands are automatically more ethical than fast fashion labels. The reality is, that just because something has a hefty price tag doesn't mean the workers behind it are paid fairly. Often, a big chunk of what we spend on clothes goes straight to the brand's profits and retail markups, rather than ensuring fair wages for those who make them.
To assume that luxury brands are automatically more ethical than fast fashion is a mistake. The allure of luxury often comes from its mystique and exclusivity, but we must demand transparency in today's world. Luxury brands should be held to the same level of accountability and scrutiny as fast fashion. If consumers are paying premium prices for clothing, it should be with the confidence that everyone involved in its creation is being treated and compensated fairly, don't you think?
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