The Covid pandemic has been catastrophic for bricks-and-mortar retailers in most, if not all, sectors but certainly in my industry, fashion.
Not all the news stories about the fashion sector have been about the impact of lockdown on sales.
We have had the discovery of supply chains using labour below minimum wage in poor conditions that led to the spread of Covid-19.
“If we cannot educate consumers nor pressure the bad apples to change their ways, the only way we can change behaviour is to ask the government to legislate”
We’ve had Chinese online retailers blatantly copying niche designers, being found in breach of intellectual property rulings but not paying compensation. We’ve had retailers deliberately over-ordering because the wholesale cost is so low they would rather throw away overstock than risk not meeting demand.
And the story that continues to run – the damage caused to the environment by throwaway fashion.
However, regardless of all these stories, and broader coverage of the environment such as on Sir David Attenborough’s fantastic A Perfect Planet on the BBC, customers continue to flock to the ‘bad apples’ in the industry.
Those bad actors then continue to go from strength to strength. They are driven solely by profit and take no moral, social or environmental responsibility. They apparently allow slave labour to make their goods or at best ignore it when it is blatantly obvious.
They ship using the cheapest, dirtiest fuel available and will not even consider the sustainable option. They drain seas, pollute rivers and produce poor quality goods designed not to last beyond the season and destined for landfill.
Reward innovation
If we cannot educate consumers nor pressure the bad apples to change their ways, the only way we can change their behaviour, which is so damaging to the sector and the environment, is to ask the government to legislate.
The think tank Fashion Roundtable is trying to help the government to reform policy to break the cycle we are in. The pandemic led to 320 shops in the UK closing every week in 2020. Combine this with the effects of Brexit and 2021 looks bleak for responsible retailers.
But the simple truth is this: we get the society and services that we deserve. If we do not educate ourselves, hold values and integrity in how we shop and spread the word to the wider world, we will let the bad apple win every time.
More than that, in a retail world that is imploding, we need good policy that helps the best parts of the industry.
At the luxury end of the UK fashion market, designers have made headway by creating fully sustainable collections. In the car industry, ‘sustainable innovations’ have been rewarded with zero VAT on exports. This clemency has not been granted to the fashion industry.
Let’s call on the government to reward innovation with policies to protect it.
Fight for survival
How can we make sustainability work at every level? Let’s remove VAT from all resale stock, encourage all retailers to become circular and make it worth their while.
This will also ensure prices are accessible for all consumers. Just as Adidas and Resellfridges are reselling items at the higher end, let’s encourage Primark and H&M to do the same.
“I have always been a free marketeer, believing the market will find its equilibrium, but we are running out of time for the planet and for the fashion industry”
LoopE, the SAAS arm of My Wardrobe HQ, offers afterlife solutions for any items in the retail chain. Its clientele started at the niche and sustainability-focused end of the market but it is expanding into other areas
Let’s impose a levy on all imported goods and make sure that it is material in order to reduce consumption of the ‘new’. This will help slow the knowing overproduction of fast fashion that is harming the planet. A flat rate would certainly focus manufacturers to better match quantities demanded, rather than the massive oversupply that creates fast-fashion waste mountains.
I have always been a free marketeer, believing the market will find its equilibrium, but we are running out of time for the planet and for the fashion industry.
Vogue Business reported recently on end-of-life regulation coming for the fashion industry. Let’s hope that policymakers consult with the players in fashion who are fighting for the survival of the best parts of an industry that we all love and work so hard for.
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