By LuisPablo Padres//hosted project//live project
Fashion has been a polarizing topic for centuries now. Whether it is the practices to make clothing, the audiences it is built around, or the messages it sends, there is always some sort of negative connotation to the industry. However, when someone says “the fashion industry is unethical”, what do they mean? In what way is the industry unethical? And, how much do we know of the story behind everyday garments that hang in our closet?
I chose to pursue this topic for my Master’s thesis because, whether we like it or not, we are all part of the fashion industry; therefore, we should all be more conscious of what we put on our bodies and exactly where these garments come from. America has been a major player in the fashion industry for the past 70 years, and an even larger player in industrialization and mass production for a longer period of time. This is why I have decided to target my analysis on large scale American brands, exploring and comparing them based on their production levels and the ethical compromises they make in order to produce the items we all buy.
This project will analyze 32 of the largest and most notable American brands and target 2 main data points: size and ethics. Size will be evaluated based on yearly revenue, while ethics will be evaluated based on 6 key metrics: Supply Chain Transparency, Labor Compensation, Environmental Impact, Social Transparency, Value Distribution Equity, and Human Rights Risk & Responsiveness. Along with a performance review of each brand within these metrics, I will do a comparative analysis of these brands by utilizing a unique Ethical Compliance Index I have developed by taking inspiration from projects such as The Fashion Transparency Index from Fashion Revolution. The goal is to explore a correlation between a brand’s size and their ethical performance, showing that as a brand's production size rises, their ethical compliance falls.
This project intends to give consumers the tools and data necessary for them to make their own decisions of which brands fit their standards, and provide a more guided and autonomous consumer experience.
