Time for a Responsible Fashion Council?
Fashion is one of the least regulated and most unsustainable global industries. It has recently come into the spotlight due to its social and environmental performance, which brought into sharp focus both the lack of adequate international regulations in
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Abstract Fashion is one of the least regulated and most unsustainable global industries. It has recently come into the spotlight due to its social and environmental performance, which brought into sharp focus both the lack of adequate international regulations in the fashion sector and lack of compliance with existing ones. Despite the proliferation of voluntary initiatives, there is no single body that sets global rules in the fashion industry today, thus leading to lack of coordination and common standards around the world on anything from advertising to environmental performance. The chapter analyzes the current regulatory landscape in the fashion sector at the international level, including the existing standards and certification schemes as well as key initiatives in this sector. It explores the feasibility and possible mandate of a future global fashion council and its role in promoting sustainability across the industry. Keywords Responsible fashion council · Fashion · Apparel · Sustainability · Regulations · Legal compliance · Standards · Certification schemes · Multistakeholder initiatives · Governance · Mandate
1 Introduction Fashion is one of the least regulated global industries, especially compared with highly regulated sectors such as air transport, mining, or energy. Moreover, trade liberalization in recent years led to dramatic changes in the industry’s sourcing and
X. Cherny-Scanlon () Sustainability Management School (SUMAS), Gland, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] K. Agnes San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 S.S. Muthu and M.A. Gardetti (eds.), Green Fashion, Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0245-8_4
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business strategies resulting in an increasingly globalized, fast-paced, and largely unsustainable business model. Meanwhile, the fashion industry has recently come into the spotlight due to its social and environmental performance, in particular following the 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza tragedy brought into sharp focus both the lack of adequate international regulations in the fashion sector and lack of compliance with existing ones (e.g., labor standards). Despite the proliferation of voluntary initiatives, there is no single body that sets global rules in the fashion industry today, thus leading to lack of coordination and common standards around the world on anything from advertising to environmental performance. This chapter analyzes the current regulatory landscape in the fashion sector at the international level as well as key initiatives led by the United Nations, governments, industry, and civil society. It explores the feasibility and possible mandate of a future global fashion council and its role in promoting sustainability across the industry. The chapter content is based on literature review and expert interviews complemented by the
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