**TL;DR: The fashion industry exploits black and Asian culture for profit.** The fashion industry as a whole is a vast system, which is inherently racist. From the lack of diversity on the fashion runways to the lack of diversity in magazines and company Instagram feeds, and even the blatant racism in certain fashion brands, racism is a huge problem in the fashion industry. As [Kalkidan Legesse] (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/11/racism-is-at-the-heart-of-fast-fashion-its-time-for-change) writes, 'being black in the fashion industry in the UK is knowing that all the makeup artists in a room have no idea how to colour match your foundation. It is seeing a white woman monetising styles that you and your peers have constantly been ridiculed for'. As Legesse states, since racism in the fashion industry is such a huge and interconnected issue that is so normalised, I wasn't aware of the fact until I started to educate myself more on the topic. **Lack of visibility**: WOC in the fashion industry are vastly underrepresented. [The Fashion Law] (https://www.thefashionlaw.com/is-racism-stifling-creativity-in-the-fashion-industry/) reported that brands are majorly out of touch with their demographics, calling casting memos aimed to reach 'trendy, young, urbanites', but only casting white models. A report from [The Guardian] (https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/may/10/survey-finds-that-78-of-models-in-fashion-adverts-are-white#:~:text=In%20a%20breakdown%20of%20the,when%20the%20total%20was%2084.7%25.) found that 78.2% of models featured in fashion adverts were white, compared to 8.3% of black models, 4% Asian models, and just 3.8% Hispanic models. Furthermore, major online fashion brands such as the infamous 'it girl' brand [Oh Polly] (https://www.buzzfeed.com/adeonibada/oh-polly-apology-body-positivity-inclusion-diversity-bame) came under fire after creating a separate Instagram account to showcase their ethnic minority models, rather than just showcasing them on their main Instagram page. This blatant ostracisation of non-white models is even more concerning when their main Instagram page has been widely noted to profit off 'white women with dark tans'. **Cultural Appropriation**: The fashion industry has a huge issue with stealing traditional garments from different cultures and branding them as 'tribal' or 'ethnic'. The issue here is that when worn by people of colour, the same garments that get mocked and discriminated against are now seen as trendy when worn by white models. As [Naomi Mdudu] (https://www.thefashionlaw.com/is-racism-stifling-creativity-in-the-fashion-industry/) states, 'a big brand will take a print and the colors of your culture and not credit them. So, your brand is more ready to embrace and profit off a culture than your customer is ready to see that face represented'. Instead of learning where these traditional garments come from and the importance of them, brands just exploit different cultures for profit without actually representing the people they are profiting from. **Factory Workers**: As [Kalkidan Legesse] (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/11/racism-is-at-the-heart-of-fast-fashion-its-time-for-change) states, 'the fashion industry has been reliant on the exploitation of garment workers since its conception'. In fact, out of the 74 million textile workers worldwide, 80% of these are women of colour. These workers are forced to work in unsafe working conditions, working below minimum wage, to the same corporations who exploit their labour to maximise profits. I'm sure there are many more points to be added here, but if you want to read more then the links I've cited are really interesting.

**The fast-fashion industry is particularly problematic for their environmental impact disproportionately affecting BIPOC, their exploitation and systematic racism.** I agree with the arguments already made 'for' so my points will focus on adding to the narrative surrounding racism specifically in fast-fashion, which is one of the largest segments of the fashion industry and one to which we likely all contribute or have done at one point in time. **Environmental impact** • The negative environmental impacts of fast fashion disproportionately affect people of colour, yet the fashion industry knowingly exploits this in order to keep production costs low. • Reports show that industries knowingly expose their garment workers, which are predominantly BIPOC, not just in China or third-world countries but even the [USA](http://garmentworkercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DirtyThreads.pdf), to dangerous conditions including highly unsafe levels of toxic fumes and fabric dust leading to serious health problems. •In China, [70 percent of the rivers and lakes](https://remake.world/stories/news/there-are-hidden-chemicals-in-our-clothing/) are contaminated by 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater from the textile and dye industry which has lead to a [public health crisis](https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-riverblue-2318389169.html) in China India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Zambia with a high incidence of cancer and gastric and skin issues afflicting those who work in the industry or live nearby. • Overproduction of clothes which do not sell in the US are shipped to [landfills in Africa](https://remake.world/stories/news/are-our-clothes-doomed-for-the-landfill/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwo6D4BRDgARIsAA6uN1_1EZca_En4VJfBmI6Nl7ZZQIy5c7owSRTpPR2Jumpq9SvDCl5pxfkaAviLEALw_wcB). **Modern Slave Labour** • Some fashion brands are hiding under the guise of being 'sustainable' brands for having their clothes manufactured in first-world countries such as the USA, giving the impression their workers are paid a fair wage when in reality they are exploiting cheap prison labour and the systemic racism of the legal system. These workers are paid as little as [$1 a day](https://eluxemagazine.com/culture/articles/fashion-brands-made-in-prisons/) to manufacture garments, blurring the lines between prisons and sweatshops. **Stealing Designs** • There have been multiple accounts of fast-fashion companies or white-designers taking advantage of and blatantly stealing the work of BIPOC fashion designers and refusing to pay them, such as [Ngoni Chikwenengere](https://atlantablackstar.com/2021/04/02/i-was-flattered-black-designer-who-sent-white-fashion-influencer-a-dress-in-hopes-of-more-attention-says-she-went-on-to-steal-design/) and [Luci Wilden](https://fashionista.com/2019/01/fashion-nova-knockoff-crochet-knots-and-vibes-dress).