BHM // People of colour in the fashion industry
As Black History Month 2021 comes to an end, Amber from the SFW Steering Group shares some views on people of colour in the fashion industry.
Sustainability is becoming a popular buzzword in the fashion industry, and companies are attempting to make more environmentally friendly decisions. However, in the process, communities of colour are failing to be acknowledged whilst remaining the most vulnerable to the negative environmental impacts caused by fast fashion.
Sustainability was defined in the Brundtland report as ‘meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. By this definition, we cannot do good for the planet if we ignore people and equality too.
Throughout history, labour from people of colour has been continuously de-valued and undermined. The economic model of fast fashion has (and always has) exploited indigenous resources and labour leaving the global south dependant on western trade.
Fast fashion companies have been able to benefit financially from systematic racism, with many companies still being able to get away with not paying garment workers adequate living wages and failing to provide safe working conditions.
There is a disproportionate impact of environmental hazards caused by fast fashion on people of colour. Garment workers in Africa and Asia are being exposed to toxic fumes, polluted air, and contaminated water-systems from run-off chemical dyes.
80% of textile workers worldwide are women of colour.[i] Many garment workers are not paid more than £20 a week which is barely a fraction of the billions that we spend in the industry every year. For an industry that could quite literally not exist without people of colour, why is it that they bear the heaviest burden?
From boardroom to runway, there is a distinct lack of diversity in fashion. The industry has a long history of misappropriating black cultures and tokenising black models. Performative activism is rife under the pressure to appear as fair and just without necessarily being truly committed to the cause of equality.
As an industry heavily reliant on people of colour, it is not often we see the intergenerational skills from diverse cultures shine through the thousands of t-shirts pushed through factories every day. Many invaluable skills have been exploited, appropriated, or simply forgotten about.
Fashion is one thing that is relative to everyone on this planet. Using clothes to express our individuality and celebrate different cultures is something that we all have in common. We need to change how this industry marginalises and exploits people of colour, whilst causing harm to the environment and indigenous communities too.
We all get dressed every day- so we all have a role to play in changing the industry for the better. We can do a number of things; from calling big brands out directly, to shopping from a wider range of local designers to celebrate those amazing styles and skills that stem from different cultures. We must celebrate diverse cultures in fashion every month, and not just for black history month!
Session Three: ‘One System’ from our SFW Hub is now available to watch now: https://www.sustainablefashionweek.uk/donate