If fashion goes as fast as it does, it is largely because of Inditex

Contribution to the climate crisis, human rights violations, environmental pollution, exhausting hours and poverty wages... That is the trace left by the pants that we can buy in most fashion stores. That is what we know, in a generic way, but many questions still remain unresolved: What does the installation of the textile industry in the area mean for the communities? How many kilometers do the garments travel until they reach our hands? Which companies pollute the most? What impact does exposure to the substances and processes used by the industry have on female workers?

These questions and many more are those that are asked in Carro de Combate and which they will try to answer with their research on #ModaBasura.

What's behind the fashion industry? What is it that we don't see?

Behind the fashion industry there is a whole production chain that involves many more actors than we think and that is built on exploitation. The textile industry is one of the easiest to relocate because assembling and disassembling a maquila is tremendously easy. During our years of research in Asia and Latin America, we have seen factories dismantled practically overnight and moved to another location to avoid liability to the workers. Cases in which it was easier to move all the production than to pay the workers what they were owed or what they asked for. On top of that, there is a tremendous environmental impact, which in turn has a social impact, and that is what we want to focus on in our next investigation, #ModaBasura.

What is the role of Spanish fashion companies in all this?

Clearly, Inditex has played a very prominent role in this story. Much of the model that has been built responds to its own innovations in logistics and marketing. If fashion today goes as fast as it does, it is largely because of Inditex. But practically all the big brands use the same model. For example, in Rana Plaza, the building with textile workshops that collapsed in 2013 and in which more than 1,000 workers died, labels from El Corte Inglés and Mango were found.

What does the fashion industry mean for the environment and climate change?

The United Nations estimates that the fashion industry accounts for up to 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions. They are higher than those of all international flights and maritime traffic combined. Other more conservative estimates put the figure at 4%. But in any case, it is an industry with a very high footprint.

But, in addition, it is an industry with a very intensive use of water and that generates around 20% of the world's wastewater. And much of this wastewater is produced by the intensive use of chemicals in factories, which is then released into nearby rivers, such as the Citarum in Indonesia, which has often been considered the most polluted river in the world.

When we talk about the fashion industry we usually think of countries like Bangladesh or Morocco. What is the situation of workers and workers in those places?

First of all, they are mostly workers. The industry prefers women for these types of tasks because they are often more docile and accommodating. The normal thing is that they work for subcontracted textile workshops in which there is very little control by the big brands over working conditions. The salaries are tiny and to get a salary that allows them more or less to live they have to work a lot of overtime. In addition, it is rare that the contracts are indefinite, so they do not accumulate benefits or dare to ask for improvements, because it is very easy to fire them.

As the model is outsourcing, brands are not usually responsible for any problems that may arise. With COVID-19, for example, millions of dollars have been left unpaid for last-minute canceled contracts. But it is something that was already happening. When a factory closes and declares bankruptcy, brands only agree to pay back wages and severance pay when there is a lot of international pressure behind it.

You have recently launched a crowdfunding to investigate #TrashFashion and its labor and environmental consequences in these countries. What is the goal of the project?

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When we talk about the impacts of the fashion industry, we generally think of sweatshop workers in the Global South, as we just discussed. And although it is true that it is something that continues to happen, the story does not end there. At Carro de Combate, we have realized that the significant environmental impact that this industry has is often overlooked. And it is an impact that affects the living conditions of millions of people throughout the world as much or more.

What we want, fundamentally, is that this conversation is also put on the table so that companies start taking serious actions that go beyond the crude greenwashing that they are doing now. And for that conversation to happen, we need to collect data and document those impacts. That is why we have launched crowdfunding, to be able to raise the necessary funds that allow us to travel to the production centers and collect the information that documents those impacts.

In Spain we have multiple examples, such as the garment workers in Galicia or the shoe shop windows in the Elche area.

Spain is a country with a long tradition in the textile and footwear industry, which explains why some of the big brands are Spanish. And it is more than documented that this model, which previously stated that it exists in countries of the South, has also existed here. And although with a different structure, it continues to exist. It is something that, without a doubt, we will include in the investigation, especially now that with the pandemic there has been a questioning of the model and the need to relocate part of the production has been raised. And not only that, there will also be a direct impact on the workers at the points of sale, many of whom are going to close, and it will be something that we document as well.

How is it possible that an aura of solidarity and admiration has formed around companies built on the foundations of the exploitation of people and natural resources?

It is something that responds to the general narrative sold by capitalism, that of the self-made man –curiously it is rare that they refer to self-made women– who deserve admiration and should become everyone's aspiration. It is the idea that if you work hard, you will succeed. Philanthrocapitalism, that is, all those donations that these companies or people give as a marketing strategy, goes one step further. Not only is she a person who has succeeded thanks to her hard work, but she is also generous with others. And that sells a lot.

But of course, they don't tell you the part about the abuses they have to resort to to succeed. Many people have even believed the discourse that the countries of the South live better thanks to these companies, even if they explode, than without them. What they don't see is that these big companies also become active political actors in those countries, often perpetuating dictatorial regimes that benefit them. And impoverishing the country with their tax evasion practices and, with the important environmental footprint they have, which is what we want to focus on in this investigation.

What executive capacity does the Spanish government have to undertake structural changes?

When it refers to production in third countries, it is limited. Generally, this type of action usually goes through the European Union, and focuses on requests for greater transparency or suspensions in, for example, preferential import agreements as has happened with Cambodia.

What the Spanish government can do is encourage relocation in Spain and make things easier for those companies that are doing it well. Because often what happens is the opposite, that when you do things right, not only is your production process more expensive, but you also have to spend the money on the certification seals that guarantee it.

What are the most urgent changes that the main companies in the industry must implement?

First, stop producing at the speeds they produce. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that some 100,000 million garments are manufactured each year, about 13 for each inhabitant of the planet. Most of them only last 7-10 days because they are of very poor quality and because fashion cycles encourage us to continually renew our wardrobes. Clothes have to last longer, so that even if we want to change them, we can just trade them in or sell them second hand.

In addition, if we talk about environmental impact, the decarbonization of the sector is urgent. It is something that, according to some studies, such as one by the McKinsey consultancy, would not be too expensive and, in half of the measures they have to take, it would even mean a reduction in costs. The problem is that to undertake all these reforms, you have to control your production chain. And in this case, it is completely delocalized. So that probably leads to the most important step that should be taken: relocate production.