Who Really Pays for Cheap Fashion?
Global fashion supply chains are often described as efficient systems connecting brands, factories, and consumers. But the Worker Rights Consortium argues that this efficiency is built on a major imbalance of power. Global brands often control prices, production deadlines, and order volumes, while factories compete to keep contracts. The pressure then moves downward, to workers.
WRC estimates that around 80 million garment workers still do not earn enough to live on, even as the fashion industry generates enormous profits. It also argues that legal minimum wages in many producing countries can fall far below what families actually need for food, housing, healthcare, and education. When brands demand lower prices or faster production, factories may respond through excessive overtime, wage violations, or greater pressure on workers.
What stood out to me is how easily responsibility disappears inside a supply chain. A brand may say it does not directly employ factory workers, while a supplier may argue that it cannot raise wages because buyers refuse higher prices. Everyone participates in the system, yet no one seems fully responsible for its consequences.
That is why garment workers should not be treated as the invisible end of a supply chain. If companies have the power to determine how cheaply and quickly clothes are produced, they should also share responsibility for the conditions required to meet those demands.
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