Fast Fashion: The Illusion of Choice for Modern-Day Slaves

Abstract

The twenty-first century is characterized by the advent of peak consumerism, where the preferences of the global consumer take precedence over everything. For the fashion industry, a trend of creating, using, and discarding fast and cheaply made clothes and accessories have been booming, characterized aptly as ‘fast fashion’. However, this trend comes at a severe cost, as the brunt of the same is being borne by millions of workers, primarily women and children, employed at the sweatshops of the developing South Asian nations. Working at deplorable conditions for pennies per hour, without any formal employment benefits in place, the basic human rights of these workers are being violated daily. While several international human rights documents emphasize that every nation must provide basic human rights to all of its people, that remains nothing but a fever dream for millions of such workers. Against this backdrop, this chapter provides a background of the garment sweatshop industry, followed by an analysis of the human rights violations therein. Then, it moves on to an exploration of the international legal instruments that can be utilized to counter this issue. Finally, it suggests some practical ways out for the nations most affected by the same