Recherchetool für Materialien

Research Tool for Materials

The materials database contains media on our key topics of working conditions in the textile and clothing industry and the environmental impact of clothing. The types of media include studies, guidelines and reports, as well as films, podcasts and web tools.

 

List of materials

 

With new global processes affecting the fashion industry at a global level, everything has changed in the Italian fashion industry, especially since the 1980s. Antonella Ceccagno investigates and addresses three major global shifts in the fashion industry: The rise of low labor cost competitors, the restructuring of the distribution chain, and the emergence of a global fast fashion.

Furthermore, and critically, she shows that over the last 30 years, Italian immigration laws have been clearly and overtly devised with the aim of helping the Italian industrial system to find cheap labor. These laws were also determined in increasing migrants’ vulnerability and forging divisions and stratification among migrants and within migrants sharing the same national background.

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The garment industry is a significant contributor to Indonesia’s large economy. In fact, it was the fifth largest contributor to Indonesia’s non-oil and gas manufacturing export figures from 2014 to 2017, growing at an average of 1.1 % during that period. It is also an important source of employment, accounting for around 26.6% of jobs in the manufacturing sector. The industry is affected by changes to economic conditions in the US and Europe, the major destinations for its products. It also faces the challenge of competing with other garment-producing countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, with costs including labour, affecting competitiveness.

Another challenge for the garment industry lies in meeting international expectations about the treatment of workers. Conditions in garment factories vary varied. They are generally much worse in medium and small enterprises, which do not attract the kinds of scrutiny that large suppliers to international brands are subjected to. The industry has received a great deal of attention from international and local NGOs and trade union, but there remains much to be done before the standards embedded in the FWF Code of Labour Practice are fully met even in more compliant segments of the sector. In terms of labour rights, Indonesia has signed key international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and all eight core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. However, the extent to which these commitments are reflected in Indonesian legislation and in its implementation, revised. Like many countries in the region, it also continues to experience serious problems in terms of the implementation of many aspects of its legal framework. This core problem has led to issues with freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively; working hours and conditions, including the right of women to be free of sexual harassment in the workplace; occupational health and safety; and the right to a living wage. FWF will continue to provide updated information on Indonesia at www.fairwear.org and will update this country study on a periodic basis in the future.

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  • The rise of the social audit industry is symptomatic of a neoliberal culture of voluntary codes of conduct controlled by the private sector.
  • The blind reliance on social audits excludes any real improvement in working conditions in the factories. At best, social audits have an illustrative value.
  • Sustainable control of working conditions requires both trade union organisation of workers and effective control by state labour inspections. As long as there are only private audits, companies, factory owners and testing companies must assume liability. However, the private sector controls without liability have led to a system without real control of the quality of the social audits, which also denies the workers the necessary remedies.

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This edited volume motivates ideas, visions, strategies, and dreams of entrepreneurs, managers, scientists and political experts who share their best practice experience relating to the joint goal of a more sustainable, humanistic, and responsible fashion industry. Readers will find a variety of approaches and strategies that in sum represent a rich pool of insights and cases for anyone interested in the study of new management perspectives and in the systematic advancement of sustainable fashion. In 14 chapters, international authors discuss topics such as Sustainable Business Models, Cradle-to-Cradle, Circular Economy, Human Rights, Ethical Supply Chain Management, Sustainable Fashion Consumption, Certification and Auditing, Traceability, Impact Measurement, and Industry Transformation. Business case studies include H&M, Filippa K, Melawear, Otto, Tauko, and Tchibo. Further brands that are threatened in the book are Prada, Burberry, Hermès, Hugo Boss, and many more.

The book demonstrates that sustainable fashion can hardly be realized by just one actor or by using just one business tool or governance instrument. The sustainable transformation of the textile sector requires concerted action of businesses, governments, NGOs, and consumers to clearly demonstrate a coalition for change and a willingness and power to end inhumane and unsustainable business practices in the 21st century. The sum of innovative approaches and solutions presented in this book shows that the momentum for change is strong and that mutual learning, respect and collaboration can lead to interesting and effective new paths of co-creation and shared responsibility in the fashion industry.

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