Just Transition in Fashion
27th April 2023, 14.00 UTC - 15.00 BST - 16.00 CEST
The fashion business model is driven by the growth logic with billions of items produced and distributed every year. Overproduction and overconsumption are intertwined problems with complex supply chain operations based on extraction of social, ecological, emotional and physiological resources. Fashion is a system characterised by power imbalance. Fashion brands’ power tactics, operational targets, purchasing practices and cost reduction strategies lead to ecological, social, physical and psychological consequences.
Framing climate action in the context of social justice, the fashion industry is now using the term ‘just transition’. There are claims that fashion companies undertake steps to transition to a low-carbon system in fair ways. Nevertheless, our scientific research on just transition across fashion supply chains does not see this happening. Alarmingly, we see that just transition is at risk of being hijacked by influential industry players that aim to pursue business interests at the expense of any radical change.
Organised by FReSCH (Fashion's Responsible Supply Chain Hub), an action research project run by Dr. Hakan Karaosman and Prof. Donna Marshall, this workshop will explore just transition in the context of fashion. Based on multidisciplinary research, we will discuss how inclusive, holistic, and equitable actions led by people and communities could disrupt and transform market-based, capitalist systems that perpetuate social and environmental problems.
