What you need to know about the New York Fashion Act

The New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act is making headlines across the fashion industry.  If passed, this groundbreaking legislation will make the industry legally accountable for its social and environmental impact at a scale never before seen. Let’s dive in and find out more about it and how it may affect you. ​

Who is behind the New York Fashion Act?
The New York Fashion Act was introduced to New York State Senate on 27 January 2022 and is a result of collaboration between:  

• Government - State Senator Allesandro Biaggi and Assembly member Anna R Kelles have sponsored the bill.  
• Non-profits -The New Standard Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance worked together to draft the proposal. 
• Private Business - High profile designers, such as Stella McCartney, and celebrities such as Jane Fonda have lent their support. 

What does the New York Fashion Act propose? 
The New York Fashion Act proposes that all global footwear and apparel companies with profits over $100 million doing trade within New York will be required to: 

1. Map 50% of their supply chain from raw materials to final production,
2. Identify and disclose areas of social and environmental impact within their supply chain (this could include labor rights abuses, energy and water consumption, chemical management, greenhouse gas emissions, textile waste and more),
3. Set and report against science based targets (as per the Paris Agreement) to mitigate their social and environmental impact, and
4. Publish types and quantities of all textiles used in production (e.g. the amount of cotton, organic cotton, polyester, leather, etc. used)

What are the consequences for companies who do not comply with the New York Fashion Act? 
Companies who fail to comply with the New York Fashion Act would be given 3 months to correct their actions. Failure to comply would result in: 

• Fines - companies would be required to pay 2% of their global annual revenue into a community fund, the proceeds of which would be used to finance projects that support communities affected by climate change. Given the size of these companies that fine will start at $20,000 and go up from there.
• Damage to reputation - companies would be named on a publicly available list, updated annually by the NY Attorney General. 

Why is the New York Fashion Act significant? 

• It is comprehensive - Although there have been some efforts to regulate the industry through legislation (see our recent blog post on California's Garment Workers Act) the New York Fashion Act is the first legislation to comprehensively address both the social and environmental impacts of fashion.  
• It will force transparency and accountability - While many companies have good intentions to improve their sustainability efforts and are making public their goals to do so, there is currently nothing in place to hold them accountable to their promises. According to Maxine Bédat, founder of the New Standard Institute and advocate of the bill, "This type of legislation would make sure that no company can exploit the environment and labor as a competitive edge” ( Vogue). 
• It has global reach - Despite being a state based piece of legislation, the scope of the Act means that it will impact essentially all large multinational fashion companies across the world. This includes luxury brands such as LMVH, Prada and Armani through to fast fashion companies such as H&M and Zara. 
• It will enable data collection - The requirement for companies to provide details on the types and quantities of textiles used in production is unprecedented in the industry. This level of reporting will enable data to be collected and used to track progress on the uptake of sustainable, recycled and organic textiles used in production. 
• It has teeth - There are significant financial and social consequences for companies who do not comply.   

How is the industry responding to the New York Fashion Act? 
The response from the industry has generally been very positive however as with any change, there has been some backlash. One major criticism is that the New York Fashion Act does not specify which 50% of the supply chain needs to be mapped, allowing companies to potentially map their better half. Others in the industry have voiced concern over the lack of grass roots consultation in the drafting process and are asking for a more diverse group of voices to be heard. While others are concerned that the language needs reworking to shift the focus from the negative (reporting problems) to one that is more inspiring for companies (solutions focused). However, most agree that this is a great first step and one that is desperately needed to bring about accountability within the fashion industry. 

When will the New York Fashion Act be implemented? 
There is great optimism that the Act will pass, however it still has a way to go. It is currently being reviewed by Senate and Assembly committees with the aim to bring it to a vote in late spring following where final approval will be sought by the NY State Attorney General. If passed, companies would be given a 12 month ramp period to map their supply chains and 18 months to set sustainability targets. 
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Regardless of whether the New York Fashion Act passes this spring or not, one thing is certain; sustainability in fashion is no longer an option, it's integral to modern business. This is great news for those within the industry who have been campaigning for greater social and environmental accountability. There's never been a better time to set goals and upgrade your sourcing.

Emerging Brands

As an emerging brand, you are in the fortunate position of being able to build sustainability into your company before it starts to grow. Finding suppliers who are committed to ethical and sustainable production is critical to this. We can help connect you to our global database of ethically and sustainably certified factories (and mills soon to come!) 

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Established Brands

If you are an established brand looking to prepare for this legislation, we can help you fast track the process by connecting you with our global database of vetted ethical garment factories (and soon textile mills). Call us now to schedule a demo call.
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