One year ago, in collaboration with the European Parliament, human rights NGOs, labour unions, a child labour survivor, and a concentration camp survivor, we held the first and only fashion show inside the Parliament advocating for human rights within the fashion industry. We are now in the final stages for the forced labour ban to become a reality.
According to the latest report from the International Labour Organization, annual profits from forced labour exceed 220 billion euros, marking a staggering 37% increase since 2014. Simultaneously, over the past decade, the environmental damage caused by the fashion industry and production has also reached a significant increase, making it the third most polluting industry after Energy and Agriculture.
Over the past three years, my life as a fashion designer has been turned upside down. It all started during the pandemic when I learned about the devastating ongoing genocide and forced labour camps in the Uyghur region in China. I became heartbroken and frustrated after learning that 20% of the world’s cotton was tainted with forced labour. Not only did the entire fashion industry stand silent against one of the most horrific human rights abuses of our time, but we are also even profiting from it. On the Jewish World Watch’s website, 2,000 of the world’s biggest companies are listed to have found links with Uyghur Forced labour. Back in 2021, everyone told me I shouldn’t talk about it as it was too political, and it would be commercial suicide for my brand. But as I was failing with all other attempts I tried to do outside of my role as a fashion designer to address this urgent issue, together with my creative friends, we created the first Louise Xin couture fashion show to raise awareness about human rights abuses.
With no budget or marketing team, posted digitally on my Instagram and website page with just 5,000 followers, the show went viral worldwide and reached international media outlets. One month later, I received The Fabric Of Life Award by Paul Frankenius and soon got selected as a Sakharov fellow for Human rights by the European Parliament. Three years later, I’ve had the privilege to hold speeches for the UN, TEDX talk, Spotify, multiple talks, and workshops for the European Parliament. And the topic of forced labour that was unspoken of three years ago has now reached Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and 100 other news articles and TV reports worldwide.
I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into when I first started. This is the hardest, most terrifying, heartbreaking journey I’ve ever been through. At the same time, the most rewarding and beautiful experience, regardless of the challenges. I’ve learned so much and I would no longer be able to look at the world or a piece of clothing in the same way.
At the moment of writing, I just came home from a dinner at Gulbahar’s place in Paris. Gulbahar is a Uygur concentration camp survivor from Kazakhstan and she always spoils me with the most delicious traditional Uyghur cuisine with lots of dry fruits, dessert, handmade noodles, and naan bread. I always leave her place eating way too much so my stomach almost hurts. She was with me last year together with child labour survivor Nasreen Sheik from Nepal for the show in the European Parliament. There’s something with Gulbahar’s smile. When she looks at me, it’s as if I can feel the sun itself has put its arms around me. I’ve never met someone with such a huge heart, a pure soul, and so much happiness. I will never forget the first time we met; they explained to her who I was and what I did; she hugged me and said, ’I know exactly how much money those huge companies made on us. They are forcing even 14, 15 years old young girls to work.’ Even though she always looks happy, I know her mental and physical health is very critical after the aftermath of all the torture she went through while being in the camps. Still, she always takes on interview after interview and travels to give testimonies even though every single time she speaks about it, it’s as if she relives those terrible memories and it breaks her down over again mentally and physically. She had promised her cellmates she would do anything she can do to share their story to get them out. And it’s that selfless love and heart of gold that kept her alive.
I always wonder if all the decision-makers and stakeholders had met her, listened to her story, and eaten some of her insanely tasty food would have the heart to continue working with supply chains that have the slightest possibility of being tainted with forced labour. I also wonder if anyone has met and heard the story of Nasreen. How she as a little 9-year-old kid was forced to work for 16 hours a day without food, or even water sometimes. Only then, if anyone could still make the conscious decision to cut down costs for production to make a bigger profit.
I don’t believe that anyone wakes up one day and consciously decides to commit acts of evil. This isn’t a simple tale where companies are portrayed as villains and survivors of modern slavery and forced labour as victims. Running a company, regardless of its size, presents extreme challenges, and navigating the complexities of the supply chain in the current state of the world, companies should get more understanding and recognition for the hardship. At the end of the day, everyone is simply striving to survive and take care of themselves. However, the crux of the issue lies in our tendency to overlook the interconnectedness of our world and fail to recognize how our decisions reverberate throughout society. Because everything is interconnected, I firmly believe that achieving sustainability is inseparable from upholding human rights.
A company gaining a huge profit margin by cutting down costs of labour means the ones paying the true costs are the workers’ family won’t have enough food on the table. Triggering the cause of children not being able to go to school and being at risk for forced marriage and child labour. Wealthy countries getting rid of their trash and pollution so they can have clean air and water means people on the other side of the world will suffer immensely from natural catastrophes. As we are facing an energy crisis and striving to remove fossil fuels. 45% of polysilicon used in solar panels is made by Uyghur forced labour. 70% of all the cobalt, the mineral essential for batteries and electronics, comes from one single country, Congo — where the mining consists largely of child labour.
The exploitation of labour isn’t confined to factory workers and production alone; it permeates every sector of our industry, top to bottom. This reality is glaringly evident in the sweeping changes underway. We’re witnessing a seismic shift across the industry, driven by a collective sense of urgency. The earlier Conde Nast strike within the publication sector, alongside models speaking out against abuses by agencies and the sourcing of models from refugee camps in Sudan, underscores this upheaval. Talented creative directors are withdrawing one after another, and workers are staging mass protests worldwide to demand fair wages and labour rights.
So what do we do now? How do we move forward from this massive challenge?
Firstly, it’s essential to recognise that there are no quick fixes for the climate or humanitarian crises. These are complex issues with no single solution. While various sustainability initiatives may be proposed, none will be entirely sustainable in every aspect. Even practices such as using deadstock, upcycling, recycling, renting, second hand, and such all have their own challenges and sustainability defaults. So, what’s the alternative? Should we cease all production, sales, and purchases? Certainly not. But we definitely can’t do it in the same way or the same amount. Despite the damage caused by production and business, they are the lifeblood of society, providing essential goods and services that sustain us and propel progress. To address these challenges effectively, we must also address their root causes rather than merely treating surface symptoms. At the heart of these issues lie our fundamental values. Are we willing to accept a society where AI creates art while humans toil like machines? Are profit margins more important than the well-being of our workers? Is money more important than our own physical and mental health? These questions compel us to reflect deeply on the kind of world we want to build and the values that will guide us toward a sustainable future.
We won’t directly feel the suffering of workers while making decisions continents away based on numbers and spreadsheets. Or witness the devastation of pollution in our precious nature from our desks. Yet, organizations like Human Rights Watch, Anti-Slavery International, and initiatives like the EU’s legislation shed light on these injustices. It’s clear that knowledge alone isn’t enough; applied knowledge is the true power. Despite regulations and reports, real change requires a fundamental shift in mindset. We’re caught in a system suffocating us all, one where survival often trumps ethics. But there’s hope in collaboration. We can’t dismantle the current system without a viable alternative. Smaller players struggle in an ecosystem designed for giants; environmental sustainability initiatives won’t survive if it can’t also reach financial sustainability.
That’s where our collective power comes in. We need a new ecosystem, built collaboratively by every stakeholder within the industry and beyond — similar to how, in the forest, the strong healthy trees are giving nourishment to the sick and dead trees. Because nature understands, that survival is driven by collaboration and not competition. So, if we start to see each other as collaborators, extend our will to win not only for ourselves but as a collective. We would be surprised by how many amazing solutions there are already out there in terms of technology, innovation, and traditional heritage. So, if everyone — from buyers to manufacturers, creatives to academics, brands, and NGOs — can all come together, instead of reinventing the wheel, we can build bridges and pathways, creating new infrastructures.
This open letter is a plea for unity, a call to share expertise and experiences, and to build an industry where fashion can continue to strive but no longer at the cost of our environment and human lives.
The greatest power of fashion is that it cannot only mirror our world but suggest and imagine a new one for people to see it before it happens. Let’s build that new world together.
Louise Xin is a Stockholm–based fashion designer. Her works are exhibited at Skokloster Castle, north of Stockholm, on June 14-September 1
