The Payal

Surprise! Hidden Forced Labour

 

These light wash Payal Opaque jeans may look great, but they’re hiding a dark secret. Do you know who made these jeans? Nope, and neither do we. 

 

The fashion industry (and, often unknowingly, its consumers) is complicit in forced labour: it is estimated that almost one in five cotton garments in the global apparel market is linked to Uighur forced labour.

 

They, and other persecuted minorities, work in factories surrounded by barbed-wire fences and police guard boxes in order to meet the demands of the Chinese government and the fashion industry.

 

Due to the endless players in the cotton supply chain, it is incredibly challenging to obtain a clear and accurate idea of all the different manufacturers who themselves often outsource work without notifying their clients. Even if brands make an effort to not work directly with factories in Xinjiang, due to outsourcing across the supply chain, many products might end up using cotton picked by Uighurs then sent to other suppliers.

  

If companies don’t know where or how their products are being made, they cannot ensure proper protections, safe working conditions or that human rights are respected. 

 

The Payal Opaque:

• Supports unethical working conditions
• Makes you complicit in slave labour
• Comes with no accountability