During a special event cohosted by Teen Vogue, climate and labor activists explain the ways organizing is changing the industry.
October 25, 2024
The fashion industry has often been criticized for its mass production of clothing, promotion of overconsumption, and systems of abuse that have largely gone unchecked by the industry. However, organizers and activists around the world are working to change that by raising awareness of the effects that the textile industry has on climate change and workers across the supply chain, from factories to models and beyond.
During a panel at the Parson's Gromek Institute for Fashion Business's event called Fashion in Between: The Future of Fashion Business, co-hosted by Teen Vogue and moderated by Style Director Alyssa Hardy, activists Sara Ziff and Summer Dean spoke about their work organizing in fashion. Ziff is the founder and executive director of the Model Alliance, a nonprofit labor advocacy organization dedicated to advancing rights and protections for models and other fashion workers. Dean is a climate influencer and founder of Climate Diva, which promotes sustainability, “slow fashion,” and climate action.
The Model Alliance was sparked by Ziff’s personal experience as a working model and her efforts to protect other models who had experienced sexual abuse and exploitation from unregulated management companies. Ziff said that she began advocating for change before the Me Too movement gained traction in 2017 — when former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual misconduct and abuse were exposed and spearheaded widespread change in the culture and empowered people to speak out about sexual assault. But when Ziff attempted to expose abusers in the fashion industry in the early 2000s, she was met with backlash.
“It was scary because it was not a culture of activism whatsoever,” Ziff said. “And I was basically blacklisted.”
After the release of a documentary called Picture Me in 2009 that followed Ziff’s rise in the modeling world exposed some upsetting truths about exploitation and sexual misconduct, Ziff was faced with scrutiny and scathing reviews. One article from the New York Times called the documentary “worthless as social commentary and clueless as a film.”
“People kind of trivialize our concerns, but the fact is that we are workers and deserve to be treated fairly,” Ziff said during the panel. “I had risked a lot to begin to crack that door open and the industry did not receive that very well either.”
Keeping in line with finding a voice within activism and being brave enough to go against some larger forces, Dean also spoke about her work in the fashion space, particularly advocating for changes in textile production and overconsumption to slow the progress of the climate crisis.
“I can’t see a future in which we don’t radically change the way we run our society, and so if I don’t step up and make a change in my own life and make my voice heard, then how can I allow the space for other people to do the same thing?” Dean said.
The biggest hurdle for Dean and other climate activists is the massive and intricate fashion industry, which has shown almost no signs of slowing down pushing its mass production. Instead, it uses tactics like “greenwashing,” which is when a company will mislead consumers into believing their products are sustainable.
“What is it going to take for the industry to want to degrow?” Dean asked about the biggest challenge she faces.
One of the best ways both Ziff and Dean can help make change is by empowering workers within the industry — from factory workers to designers, and models. By helping those workers who are often exploited, Ziff and Dean both agree that this could help slow fast fashion production.
In Ziff’s case, her organization introduced legislation called the Fashion Workers Act that will address a loophole that allows companies to not provide basic labor protections for fashion workers, including models. Management companies in New York are currently granted power of attorney over their models, giving them the authority to control their payments, book jobs, and use the model’s image without their consent. The act would work to resolve that issue if signed into law. The bill officially passed in June 2024 and is sitting on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for a signature.
On a broader scale, Dean and Ziff say they often have to combat society’s view of the fashion world as frivolous and glamorous or not impacting the average person’s life. Dean said she uses her social media presence to educate people about the “ugly truth” behind the industry and how it all trickles down to everyone.
“This is such an intersectional problem. Fashion touches climate, touches feminism, touches structural racism,” Dean said. “Even as a consumer, as someone who wears and buys clothing… it’s affecting our health.”