More people than ever before are victims of slavery, the International Justice Mission’s Laurel Anderson Hoffner said, beginning the evening’s discussion by sharing sobering statistics. Today, 40 million people across the world are enslaved, and one in four of those is a child. Slavery is something that consumers are to likely come into contact with on a daily basis; 77% of retailers believe its likely that there is some form of slavery within their supply chains. Factories outsourcing production makes transparency difficult and inadequate legislation means that brands can publish a modern slavery statement without providing evidence that their claims are true. “The fashion industry has been marking its own homework, setting its own standards,” Anderson Hoffner said. IJM works with local police and authorities across the world to help rescue people from slavery and other forms of oppression, and has so far helped 49,000 people.
Journalist and video director Sophia Li continued the conversation with Alice Wilby, sustainable fashion consultant and Extinction Rebellion’s Boycott Fashion spokesperson and coordinator (and Eco-Age’s former editor). “You can’t buy Boohoo and care about the planet,” said Wilby, explaining why she and many others are saying no to new clothes for 52 weeks as part of the boycott campaign. “It’s not about blaming individuals,” she noted; rather, Wilby passionately believes that “we need system change, not climate change.”
Visiting her father in China several years ago, Li was shocked by the levels of pollution and became starkly aware of how the future could look for more of the world if climate change continues at the current rapid rate. The two spoke about suffering from ‘action paralysis’ and how social media has fostered a mindset of influencing throughout a generation of Instagram and Snapchat users. “The whole business of Instagram is to consume,” said Li, a business where “Influencers influencing you to buy more clothes, more beauty products… to feel bad about yourself.” Wilby stressed the importance and responsibility of speaking to younger generations about social media, and how this can open up conversations around climate change and sustainability.
“You can vote for the kind of future you want with the brands you buy,” said Alice; “the most sustainable item of fashion is the one you already have in your wardrobe.”