Ragtrader's Jessica Power sits down to discuss one of the most important topics in the sector.
When the devastating 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh killed over 1,000 workers, it also shattered consumer trust in fast fashion chains.
I sat down with H&M’s global head of sustainability and production, Helena Helmersson, to discover what the fashion powerhouse is doing to make consumers look – and feel – good about wearing their conscience on their sleeve.
Speaking to Helmersson about merging her roles together, it seems as though sustainability and production go hand-in-hand in terms of driving long term changes in the garment industry.
Australian retailers are not exempt from the aftershock of Rana Plaza and when it comes to consumer consciousness. All eyes are on big brands asking the question: “how are you going to fix this?”
The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights reported alarming statistics about the estimated 3,500 workers who were inside the factory on the day it fell to pieces.
80 per cent of workers were aged between 18 to 26, with a standard shift ranging from 13 to 14 and a half hours. Seem gruelling enough? Young helpers were paid 12 cents per hour, juniors 22 cents and seniors 24 cents. For a junior, that’s a weekly take home of $10.56 and $12.48 for seniors.
Helmersson believes that pay and excessive overtime hours are one of the biggest challenges fashion brands are facing when it comes to offshore manufacturing.
"It’s such a widespread challenge in the whole industry and even though we try to tackle this in many different ways, one supplier has many customers – so if you’re just one of these brands, it’s very hard to make the overtime in total go down.
"We think we’ve found ways through the fair wage model, with having new kind of pay structures in the factories, but it’s still a struggle. There are too many overtime hours and that is also linked to wages, since many workers want to work overtime to earn more money. It’s a very complex issue."
The cost of mass production also takes a toll on the environment.
There are currently a number of H&M initiatives in place to generate action for sustainability.
The company’s latest Conscious Action highlights document that in 2013, 15.8 per cent of cotton used came from more sustainable sources. The goal – 100 per cent by 2020.
The company is working alongside NGO, Better Cotton initiative, something which Helmersson believes will help them achieve their long term plan.
"We’re really improving when it comes to cotton. I do believe we will reach our 2020 target. The key for us to be able to reach our target is the Better Cotton initiative – that we initiated together in 2009. It is basically about training farmers to make sure that they use less water and less fertilizers and chemicals."
Additionally, H&M are reported to have collected around 3,047 tonnes of garments for reusable material, used the estimated equivalent of 9.5 million plastic bottles of recycled polyester and all regular shopping bags are made from recycled plastic. One recurring concern of Helmersson’s, on the tip of her tongue throughout our discussion was water.
"So our goal is to be an industry leader when it comes to water. We have a partnership with WWF and together with them, we have a very clear strategy and it involves all of our employees, so we’re teaching all H&M employees about water.
"We’re working with suppliers on more efficient ways of cleaning with water and using less water in production and to bring it to industry level, together with authorities and decision makers to create systems that are kind of optimising the way of working efficiently with water."
If fast fashion moguls like H&M are working with other industry giants, it’s critical to turn to ethical organisations and NGOs to see how they measure up.
Otter, a project launched by Ethical Consumers Australia (ECA), have put together a definitive ranking of 41 brands operating in Australia based on their ethical conduct on labour rights. The rankings, ranging from A+ to E, are based on a 2013 report released by the Australian Ethical Fashion Guide, ‘The Truth Behind the Barcode.’
H&M were given a B for their efforts. Zara pipped them at A- and Forever New scored a D. According to the report, the best brands to shop in Australia in terms of adequate labour practices are Etiko with an A+ and 3 Fish who got an A.
However, when it comes to ethical practices across the board, Shop Ethical Australia stated, “if you (or your family members) want to shop at an international fashion brand, then H&M pips Zara and Uniqlo.”
Shop Ethical have also released a list of 16 outstanding brands operating in Australia. This includes prolific retailers and designers such as Cue, Anthea Crawford and Carla Zampatti.
Helmersson believes that getting better grades means pushing for teamwork throughout the garment industry and encouraging autonomy among suppliers.
"If you want to sustain, you have to be a part of changing the whole system and then you need to collaborate and also have a bit of patience, because you can’t come in from a Western country to decide: ‘They should put laws in Bangladesh’, you know? You need to do that in the right way.
"Really what we want to improve in the coming years is the supplier ownership, to make sure they see the benefit of working with sustainability and kind of driving it more by themselves.
"I think auditing was really good, to start with, but it’s evolving into being more about coaching and really supplier ownership is the next step where we shouldn’t have to audit as much as we do today. Our suppliers should want to do this."