Since 2013, each year on April 24th, I reflect on the transparency, inequities, and social responsibility of the fashion industry (you can read my previous thoughts here and here) And each year so far, it has been discouraging. This year is no different. Today marks the five year anniversary of the Rana Plaza Disaster, which killed 1138 garment workers (mostly young women), and injured at least 2500 more. Like years past, I have read the reports and the anecdotes, and like years past, I am disappointed. Not much has happened to ensure the health, safety, and dignity of our world’s garment worker.

A Penn State Center for Global Workers’ Rights report states that minimal gains have been made in the industry, especially where wages, overtime hours, and the intensity of labor is concerned. The only bright spot is building safety. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, while continuing to face challenges, has covered over 1600 factories, and made upgrades that have eliminated 97,000 safety hazards. Yes. 97,000. In one country.

The report found that because of the hyper-competitive nature of the global apparel industry, prices are being driven down. This race to the bottom in terms of labor and material costs has forced real wages to stagnate or decrease and human rights violations to increase in the apparel industry.

The True Cost of Our Clothes

from Inhabitat

This is what you pay for when you buy a $35 shirt. Less than 1% goes to the garment worker. And because of the race to the bottom, real wages have dropped in the last five years. Someone or something always pays for what we buy. If it isn’t the consumer, it is most definitely the environment or the garment worker (and most likely, both).

What Can We Do?

Speak up.

We can demand (and then show that we mean it, with our purchases) transparency in the fashion industry. We can ask our favorite brands and retailers to show us who made our clothes, how and where they made them, if they are paying a fair wage, and paying for a clean and safe environment that is free from human rights violations. Just by asking, we show them that it is important. When you see a “Made in Bangladesh” label, ask the brand, “Who made my shirt?”

Fashion Revolution has done an excellent job of helping consumers reach out. And this week, social media is abuzz with conversations around workers’ rights, fair wages, and ethical fashion. But it can’t stop on Saturday. As consumers, we need to continue reaching out to our favorite brands, our policymakers, and the stores we shop in. And we need to do it regularly and consistently. We need to reward the brands that are transparent, fair, and sustainable, brands like Everlane, Reformation, and Groceries Apparel, brands that charge the customer the true cost of the garment, without overcharging.

Be more aware.

Brands like Nike, H&M, and Target have to protect their brand. They are the brands that can (and in many cases, have) moved the needle (if only slightly) towards better working conditions. It is the smaller brands, the no name ones that you find in tiny shops in nondescript shopping centers or upscale boutiques, that we really have to worry about. The world holds Wal-Mart accountable. That shop down the street? Only you and I. Reputation-conscious brands will protect their reputation, these little brands don’t have a reputation to protect, but do have a bottom line to protect. We need to demand transparency from all of them. And if they cannot show us who and how our clothes were made, we need to stop buying them.

Buy Fewer, Better Things.

We are buying more. And more and more and more. We throw away about 81 pounds of it a year, just to replace it with more cheap (as in price and quality) clothing. Why?

Why not buy higher quality items that last longer and that you just LLLLOOOOVE. Something that you will want to write a love note to in a few years. Something that your friends want to borrow, and you let them because it is made so well it can withstand a few extra wears. Something that will last and you will be proud to wear at least 30 times. Replace fast with slow and cheap with better.

Demand Better Policy.

The global apparel industry is changing. Demand is increasing from the developing nations with the substandard conditions and decreasing from the developed world. Most of the countries with the most egregiously dangerous violations have laws against those violations. Unfortunately, they don’t have systems or resources in place to enforce them.

We cannot just shop our way to better working conditions.

Boycotts don’t work. And in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, they will often hurt the countries and workers they need to protect (they reduce demand, leading to layoffs, and no job is worse than an unsafe job, for the most part). We need to demand policies that protect the garment workers. Many of the multi-national corporations that have factories in developing nations also have factories here in the US. And guess what? They are not sweatshops. Why? Because the US has policies in place to protect them. We need to demand that our legislators enact laws that force the countries importing into the US put similar policies in place.

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Unfortunately, not much has changed. Fortunately, ethical fashion and style have become more of a concern. In the five years since Rana, more and more people are aware of the true social cost of their clothing. Minimalism and capsule wardrobes have become fashion buzzwords. We can change the industry. From consumers to designers to retailers, we all have a stake in the industry, and we are all responsible for the devastation that comes as a result of our consumption. We know better, so we can do better. Let’s demand transparency and justice in our industry.