Petitions, viral campaigns, calls for a boycott … Since this summer, the mobilization for the Uyghur people has gained momentum. Particularly targeted: those brands that benefit from their forced labor. But will they really improve?
Thursday, October 1, 2020, Instagram was invaded by blue squares alerting to the situation of Uyghurs. An initiative launched by Pierre Brussière, collaborator of MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, very mobilized on the subject. The idea: to call for a boycott of brands that benefit from the forced labor of this Muslim minority in China, now massively interned but also forced to work under surveillance, especially in the textile industry. In a detailed report from March, the NGO Australian Strategic Policy indicated that just over 80 companies benefited from this exploitation.
If the call to distribute the blue square has been widely followed by the general public, few fashion personalities have taken a position. We were still able to count on the fashion and lifestyle influencer Louise Aubery, who shared it, while questioning the limits of the approach: "Posting a blue square is good. Changing your consumption habits, to show that you do not tolerate Uyghur slavery, especially in the fast-fashion industry, is better." After the blue wave, we can indeed wonder: what will be its impact on brands, generally more connected with marketing than clean manufacturing?
#WhoMadeMyClothes?
Since the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, which killed 1,132 workers in the textile industry and injured more than 2,500 others, brands have massively adopted terms such as "responsible", "green" and "ethical" , without systematically changing their production methods. On our small scale of consumers, it is difficult to find the information, let alone create a balance of power … Hence the interest of large-scale campaigns, such as that of the blue squares, but also, of expert follow-up
Getting your hands dirty in the industry is moreover the mission that Clear Fashion has given itself, which presents itself as "the Yuka of fashion". The application rates brands according to an independent barometer, which assesses their environmental and social practices. Laura Gay, its communications manager, strongly believes in pressure from the general public to shake up the system. "We see the impact of consumers on a daily basis, she explains. Today, brands are less reluctant to share their information with us because they understand that it matters in the act of buying more and more customers. " Still the The mastodons of fast-fashion are still difficult to convince, because their entire business model is based on purchasing costs that are too low to be ethical. And that at the level of ready-to-wear as a whole, it was not until this summer, marked by greater media coverage of crimes against Uyghurs, for the brands to come out of their silence.
Make brands accountable for their actions
To maintain the pressure over time, especially on the burning issue of Uyghurs, the Clear Fashion application launched a campaign last August. The method: work with citizen ambassadors and hold brands to account on the issue. With convincing results, since the brands questioned respond little by little, promising audits and, ultimately, no longer any link with Uyghur factories. This is the case of Lacoste, who has mandated independent firms to conduct on-site investigations, or even of Tommy Hilfiger, who promises to have ceased all collaboration with the actors involved. Others play the game less openly, such as Uniqlo or Cotton On, who claim to have no factories in Xinjiang (where the Uyghurs live), but offer no guarantee as to factories outside the area. . In total, of the 83 major brands pinned by the Australian NGO ASPI, 18 nonetheless responded to Clear Fashion, which publishes its constant monitoring in open access. "Economically, brands have no interest in changing their practices, but they understood that it was necessary for their image ", Explain Laura Gay. The proof ? "Today, some brands are willing to pay to be audited by us. There are even some that are on our app despite their average ratings, because they want to benefit from our expertise." The app's impact assessment also confirms that things are moving: 69% of brands from brands evaluated by Clear Fashion for more than 6 months have redesigned their production process. Laura points out, however, that "It's more complicated with luxury brands because they refuse to collaborate and play the mystery."
Like Clear Fashion, other structures firmly call on brands to get involved, from Ethics collective on the label through the Fashion Revolution movement. On the other hand, on the side of the States, it is difficult to play this constraint card. The French government has therefore launched an experiment in partnership with the Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME), which is based solely on a voluntary basis: brands undertake to communicate on the environmental and social impact of their products, via in-store textile labeling, a dedicated display, online information … A device that could be generalized from 2022. Until then, consumers, experts and the media to keep up the pressure .