While a proposed law on “fast fashion” (disposable fashion) is about to be debated in the National Assembly and a second one has just been announced, the Stop Fast-Fashion coalition calls on parliamentarians to adopt an ambitious text to put an end to this system of overproduction which is harmful to employment and the environment. It asks for a penalty for brands that market more than 5,000 new clothing models per year.
Submitted at the end of January by the Horizons group, from which the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu and the former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe come, this bill aims to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry. It must be discussed in the National Assembly, first in the Committee on Sustainable Development and Regional Planning from March 5, 2024, then on March 14 in public session, during the group's parliamentary niche. It defines fast fashion according to the quantities of models offered and the frequency of renewal of collections and plans to financially sanction this practice., via a penalty on textile products of up to ten euros per item. The text also proposes to ban advertising for fast-fashion products and brands.. Another bill, which aims to sanction brands putting on sale more than a thousand new models per day, was announced by Les Républicains MP Antoine Vermorel-Marques.
An insufficient bill for Stop Fast-Fashion
“This is a long-awaited initiative., Pierre Condamine analysis, overproduction campaign manager at Friends of the Earth France. Especially, the text from the Horizons group proposes to define and penalize fast fashion, but is confined to a single criterion, that of the rapid rotation of models. However, fast fashion is not limited to Shein, it is also and above all brands that sell astronomical quantities of clothing. We must also tackle the quantities put on the market, too low prices and promotions, to put an end to this environmental and social disaster that is fast fashion. » For Charlotte Soulary, advocacy manager for Zero Waste France, “only sanction companies that place more than 1,000 models per day on the market, that wouldn't be enough. There needs to be a penalty for all brands that market more than 5,000 new clothing models per year. »
La fast-fashion, social and environmental scourge
With 3,3 billion items sold in France in 2022, i.e. 48 per person, never before have so many clothes and shoes been sold in the territory, argues Stop Fast-Fashion. In parallel, the sector has never seemed to be doing so badly : 10,000 jobs would have been lost in one year, 300,000 since the 1990s. " In France, the fast-fashion boom coincides with an explosion in the volumes thrown away each year, often of too poor quality to be reused. The share of textiles still in good condition has increased from 64% to 55% in less than ten years., increasing the share of textiles intended for recycling or incineration. Solidarity collection and reuse associations like Emmaüs are therefore witnesses and victims of the harms of fast fashion.. We must put an end to the ravages of this industry by limiting the volumes that it can now market., and thus promote the sale of quality products, eco-designed, repairable and reusable. »
Deplorable working conditions
The fight against fast fashion. cannot ignore the link “between human exploitation and destruction of the planet”. “Behind the constantly renewed collections and the slashed prices, there are anonymous workers living on unworthy salaries, deplorable working conditions and serious violence against women. For a more sustainable fashion industry, there needs to be a threefold response : environmental justice, social justice and economic justice”, says Salma Lamqaddam, campaign manager at ActionAid France.
