Maxine Bédat and New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi Join SFF22 to Break Down New York’s ‘Fashion Act’
In January, the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (or Fashion Act) was unveiled: a bill many are calling a “groundbreaking” and “historic” step towards bringing accountability to the fashion industry and holding the biggest brands responsible for their environmental and social impacts.
If signed into law, the Fashion Act would require all major apparel and footwear companies from LVMH to Shein that generate $100 million in global revenue and do business in the state of New York to map a minimum of 50% of their supply chain by volume across all stages of production, “from raw material to final production.” Under the proposed bill, companies would be required to pinpoint where they have the greatest environmental and social impact in their supply chain, including energy use, greenhouses gas emissions, water use, and chemical management. Additionally, the bill would require brands to disclose the annual volume of material produced, broken down by type, and meet Science Based Targets to ensure that they are cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
On the social side, brands would also be required to disclose the median wages for workers measured against local minimum and living wages, as well as outline their approach to incentivize fair treatment and workers’ rights.
What does the NY Fashion Act mean for the industry at large? How can brands comply with the proposed bill? What happens if brands fail to meet the requirements? Is disclosure enough to truly hold the industry accountable?
NY State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (Prime Senate Sponsor of the bill) and Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute (a key drafter of the bill), are hitting the SFF digital main stage for an exclusive #AskUsAnything session to spill the tea on everything you want to know about the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act and more!
