Phantom Thread: Equity, Rights, and the True Cost of Fast Fashion

When discussing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) in a corporate setting, the focus often tends to be on internal office dynamics. However, equity is a lens through which to view the entire global ecosystem, including our most ingrained daily habits. One of these, seemingly harmless yet carrying a significant impact, concerns the clothes we choose to wear.

In the first session of the third edition of the DE&I project at Mia-Platform, we explored this complex topic together with Silvia Gambi, journalist, founder of the project Solo moda sostenibile, and a professional with twenty years of experience in the Prato textile district. Her talk allowed us to objectively analyze the complex dynamics of this industry, observing how current production and consumption models raise significant challenges in terms of social equity and environmental sustainability.

The psychopathology of consumption and the illusion of value

Fashion is not a frivolous element, but a psychological and socio-political force of global proportions. While in the Middle Ages clothes carried such value that they were used as currency, today the narrative has drastically changed. The industrial revolution first accelerated processes and then, in the early 2000s, gave rise to Fast Fashion (with giants producing 52 collections a year). Today we have reached the extreme of Ultra-Fast Fashion, which offers as many as 365 collections a year, literally one every day.

This hyper-production is fueled by what the expert defined as the "psychopathology of consumption". Driven by boredom, stress, or anxiety, we seek refuge in compulsive shopping (often disguised as harmless "retail therapy"), triggering a dopamine cycle similar to that of primitive hunters. In this way, the illusion of possessing a "constitutional right to 10-euro trousers" takes root within us, disconnecting us entirely from the actual value of the garment.

The result is an unprecedented waste emergency: an average European citizen purchases 95 garments a year. We often believe we are doing good by donating discarded clothes, but reality is quite different: valuable garments are resold on private platforms like Vinted, while low-quality waste ends up in donation circuits. These flood markets like Kantamanto in Ghana, where unmanageable amounts of textile waste end up being burned or abandoned. In parallel, to ensure the availability of all sizes and colors in shop windows, brands produce around 30% unsold stock, adding its cost onto the final price paid by us, the consumers.

Equity denied: who pays the real price?

The fashion industry dramatically highlights the absence of global equity. Around 40 million people work in garment factories, making this industry the one most reliant on human labor on Earth: 1 in 6 people worldwide works in the fashion supply chain. Of these workers, a staggering 85% are women.

The gap between what is legal and what is equitable (the living wage, meaning a wage sufficient for a decent standard of living) is glaring. In Cambodia, the minimum wage is around 210 dollars a month, but nearly 286 would be needed to ensure a decent life. In Bangladesh, minimum wages hover around 115 dollars a month (about 4 dollars a day), conditions of extreme poverty that push some female workers into prostitution to supplement their income. This exploitation, however, touches Europe as well, with cases of "working poor" reported in Italy, France, and the United Kingdom.

Breaking down the production costs of a classic 29-euro t-shirt reveals an uncomfortable truth: barely 0.6% of the total cost goes to the worker, which is roughly 18 cents. Silvia Gambi demonstrated that a fairer system is economically feasible: by adequately paying labor and ensuring fair turnaround times, the final price of a t-shirt would go from about 16 euros to about 25 euros. If a garment costs 3 or 4 euros, someone else is paying the real price, and almost always it is women in the Global South. It is no coincidence that the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, in which 1,133 people lost their lives, remains an open wound and a reminder of the need for a traceable and responsible supply chain.

Transparency and regulations: the Digital Product Passport

How can one guard against greenwashing in a market where an ethical product cannot visually be distinguished from an unethical one? Until now, regulations have required manufacturers to indicate only the composition and care instructions on labels, omitting environmental impact and working conditions.

The European Commission is stepping in with a reform of the textile strategy, which includes the introduction of the Digital Product Passport (DPP). This tool aims to provide verifiable data on water consumption (as much as 2,000 liters are needed for a jacket), CO2 footprint, and fiber traceability, moving beyond the logic of mere statements of intent.

A practical agenda for mindful consumption

Inclusion, equity, and sustainability also stem from our choices as citizens. Several practical strategies emerged during the talk:

• Buy less, choose better: it is essential to educate ourselves on quality, investing our budget in fewer but better-made garments, favoring local craftsmanship.
• Support repair: we must move beyond the practice of "selling, buying, binning" to encourage garment care. In France, for example, the government provides financial incentives to consumers who repair their clothes, supporting a circular and artisanal economy.
• Guide choices through transparency: to reward ethical brands, the use of independent platforms such as "Good On You" is recommended, which evaluates brands based on public documents and the protection of rights.
• Reject excessive merchandising: we must limit the impact of corporate and sports "gadget culture," such as the unjustified accumulation of promotional t-shirts for events and marathons.

Sustainability practices at Mia-Platform

As an organization, embracing DE&I means recognizing that well-being and rights do not stop at our office door. True sustainability requires the awareness that every purchase we make funds a very specific worldview. At Mia-Platform, we chose to take this insight and turn it into a concrete commitment: we introduced strict internal policies regarding the purchase of swag and event management, critically evaluating their environmental and social impact. Whenever we need to produce corporate materials or clothing, we use platforms like Good On You to carry out a first, fundamental assessment of brands and their supply chain. Further details about our practices and the commitment we put into each of our choices can be found on the Sustainability page of our website or by contacting us directly.

Recommended viewing for further insight

• "Stracci": a documentary mentioned during the talk that explores global pollution and the textile waste cycle.
• "The Shitthropocene": an investigation produced by Patagonia analyzing the psychology of compulsive buying and its ecological impact.