Since becoming a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women in 2014 and launching her #HeForShe campaign, Emma Watson’s name is scarcely mentioned without a nod to her desire to enforce positive change across the globe in relation to the inequality gender too often affords us.
Over the past year, Watson has been repeatedly referenced across the media wherever issues such as the pay gap, women’s lack of access to education and the perception of women as objects have been raised. The ‘fast fashion’ industry encompasses all of these injustices, hence why it is unsurprising that the actress – whilst promoting her new film, Regression – has taken up the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC).
The GCC asks celebrities to take a more ethical and sustainable approach to fashion by wearing brands that explore alternative methods of production which consider the well-being of both workers and the environment. Watson is no stranger to the field of Fairtrade fashion – having released two collections with People Tree in 2010 and a further ethical collection with Alberta Ferretti in 2011, entitled ‘Pure Threads’.
The fashion industry, so dependent on instantaneous production and mass marketing, is one of the most destructive on the planet, not only for those who work within it but for the earth itself. The True Cost, a documentary directed by Andrew Morgan recently highlighted this and it is believed to have been one of the inspirations for Watson in joining the GCC. Throughout the film, one conflict is evident – the consumerist ‘need’ for fashion in the West is creating disease, desperation, disability and destruction for the manufacturers elsewhere.
A former sourcing manager for Joe Fresh sums up a large proportion of the West’s views towards the abysmal working conditions and lives of those who manufacture our clothing: ‘They’re doing a job, there are a lot worse things they could be doing’. But can such a statement be true? Over 250,000 farmers in Punjab, India – one of the largest users of pesticides, which are used to enhance cotton plants – have committed suicide over the past 16 years. This equates to one suicide per minute. The common thread that links them together is their use of pesticides, which they have become unable to pay for. This chain of events has allowed conglomerations like Monsanto who sell them to take possession of their farms since they have trademarked specific strains of cotton which can only be grown using their chemicals. Pesticides have now been dubbed ‘ecological narcotics’ as a result of farmer’s reliance upon them to sustain their living. However, the grave irony is that as well as being dependent on these pesticides, they are also largely responsible for their deaths as well.
Pesticides continue to fuel the fast fashion machine and have also been linked to the increase in physical handicaps, cancers, mental health issues and retardation in many of those living in areas where pesticide use is high. Recently, the death of 9/11 survivor, Macy Borders as a result of stomach cancer was reported and linked to the toxicity she inhaled during the aftermath of the attack. Similarly, these people living in areas where they regularly inhale and consume pesticides, become victims of circumstances outside of their immediate control.
Watson, as part of the GCC has worn clothing produced in factories which do not use chemicals in the interest of upholding social welfare and the health of their workers. Still even without chemical usage the ‘fast fashion’ industry puts its labourers at stake of losing their lives due to poor working conditions. The collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013 killed 1,134 people – even though workers had raised their concerns that very day that the eight storey building which made clothes for Primark, Walmart and Mango was unstable.
Despite, the international outcry over the event, many families have still not been fully compensated. Only half the companies who had connections to the complex have contributed to help people rebuild their lives, but almost all of them have failed to contribute enough, it is imperative that these companies be held accountable for these injustices. A list of those who still need to pay up is available here.
The disposable fashion that the industry now churns out has led to the view that the lives of those who make these garments are also disposable. ‘Fast fashion’ benefits no-one but those who earn millions on the backs of the despair, exploitation and slow deaths of workers. Emma Watson should not be an example of the select few who are attempting to challenge and change this view, rather she should be a name amongst a list of masses of consumers who recognise workers for what they are – human beings. Human beings with rights and entitlements who are treated with respect by their employers. Human beings who should not have to sacrifice their health or family to earn a salary that falls far below the minimum wage.
People tend to throw away clothes that are stained with blood, so just because the blood on the clothes you buy from the high street isn’t visible, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Words by Issy Marcantonio-Houghton