Legislation as Strategy for a Sustainable Fashion Industry

A bird’s eye view of legislation enables a systems-level analysis of how it can help build a sustainable fashion industry. Legislation is unlike any other measure to increase sustainability, it is multi-faceted and can target multiple areas of the industry simultaneously. This makes it one of the most powerful tools to achieve sustainability at the scale and timeframe required.

Objective: This project was undertaken to showcase the power (and potential power) of legislative measures within the fashion space with a data-backed analysis of the industry.

Why legislation is pitched as the most powerful tool in aiding positive influence in fashion - identifying key areas.

2 key areas in the fashion industry were focused to showcase legislation’s potential in causing sustainable positive impact.

• The influencer market

• Fashion goods imports

Potential and existing legislative loopholes in these areas were detailed. For example, loopholes that allow tax evasion by influencers, Xinjian cotton imports to the US, unreliable blockchain data in supply chains, dishonest made-in labeling, and wage theft.

2 systems maps, one representing insufficient use of legislation to tackle the problem of plastic bags and the other representing effective legislation were created. This helped visually explain the use of systems thinking and foresight in legislation.

Skills learned: Systems thinking, Critical analysis of multiple perspectives, Research and curation of important information, Creation of visually impactful systems maps, and In-depth knowledge of legislation within the fashion space.

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