From shifts in shopping habits to evolving technology affecting the production and manufacturing processes, supply chains are being transformed across the world. But often this is at the expense of labor standards. Fashion’s business models are heaping immense pressure on labor standards across the industry’s vast supply chains. Business models are the distinguishing feature of certain brands such as Zara or Uniqlo, says Ethical Trading Initiative.

Fast fashion is an industry based on high volumes and low prices. Most companies rely on a huge web of suppliers, typically in low wage economies, that are able to bring them the scale and speed required for a social media-driven market. That speed is also the pain point for those suppliers, whose manufacturing offer brings in extremely low margins. When orders increase at speed, sometimes doubling overnight, these manufacturers then put extreme pressure on their workers to do unpaid overtime.

More broadly, the industry’s ethical problems go beyond labor issues. It is becoming increasingly important to consumers that brands they buy are thinking about their environmental output. Consumers are attracted to companies that believe in reducing plastics and improving the environment. Twenty per cent of young people’s fashion decisions in the UK are driven by perceptions of responsible behavior.