The British parliament questions online fashion model: executives are interrogated

The fast-fashion model is under threat in the United Kingdom. The British parliament will talk to the executives from the main e-commerce companies operating in the country about how the low-cost items sold in the United Kingdom are produced, as well as about the wages earned by the people who produce them.  

Concretely, Mary Creagh, chairwoman of the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee called upon the heads of Amazon, Asos, Bohoo, Pretty Little Thing and Missguided to provide information about an investigation that analyses carbon footprint and the fashion industry’s water waste.

The investigation took off last June in base to a report that revealed how every year 300,000 tons of clothing items are thrown in landfills, the equivalent to a dump truck full of clothing items each second.

The British parliament investigates since last June the environmental impact of low-cost fashion

Creagh explains how there are suspicions about dresses sold online at five pounds sterling (5.7 euros) which are made by people earning salaries under the legal minimums. Moreover, the parliamentarian is taking a careful look at the purchase and disposing model of clothing items, which causes an increase of non-recycled wastes.

The e-commerce executives’ hearing in the Parliament is framed in a series of interviews done to the heads of fashion about the industry’s impact on the environment and the labour conditions of garment factories.