The Connection Between Fast Fashion and Modern Slavery

Modern slavery reaches fast fashion through long, hidden supply chains: forced labour in fibre harvests, bonded labour in spinning mills and coercion in subcontracted factories, all driven by the pressure for cheaper, faster clothing.

Updated 3 October 2026 | The Mosaic Project, Mosaic Market, Chiang Mai | 9 minute read

A garment passes through many hands before it reaches a shop. Someone grows and harvests the fibre. Someone spins it into yarn, weaves or knits the fabric, dyes it, cuts it, sews it and packs it. Most of those hands belong to people we will never see, in places brands themselves often cannot name. That distance is where exploitation hides.

What is modern slavery?

Modern slavery is an umbrella term for situations in which a person cannot refuse or leave work because of threats, violence, deception, debt or abuse of power. It does not require legal ownership. Control is exercised through confiscated passports, unpayable debts, threats against family, or simply having nowhere else to go.

In the clothing industry it takes four main forms:

• Forced labour: work done under threat of penalty and without free consent.
• Debt bondage: workers kept in jobs to repay loans or recruitment fees that never seem to shrink.
• Child labour: children doing work that harms their health, safety or schooling.
• Human trafficking: people recruited or moved through deception or coercion in order to exploit them.

According to the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, published in 2022 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free and the International Organization for Migration, 50 million people were in modern slavery on any given day in 2021. Of those, 27.6 million were in forced labour.

Where modern slavery enters the fashion supply chain

1. Fibre harvests

The first link in the chain is often the least visible. Investigations by researchers, journalists and UN bodies have documented state-imposed labour programmes in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, a major global source of raw fibre for clothing. In 2022, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that serious human rights violations had been committed against Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities in the region.

In response, the United States passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in December 2021. Since June 2022, it has presumed that goods made wholly or partly in Xinjiang involve forced labour unless the importer can prove otherwise. Because fibre from the region is blended into yarn and fabric across many countries, tracing it is difficult, which is exactly why the law puts the burden of proof on importers.

2. Spinning mills

In southern India, the Sumangali scheme has drawn adolescent girls, some as young as 14, into spinning mills with the promise of a lump sum at the end of a multi-year contract, often framed as money for a dowry. Anti-Slavery International and other groups have documented long shifts, restricted movement and payments that were reduced or withheld. Spinning mills sit several steps away from the brands that sell the finished clothes, which makes them hard to audit.

3. Garment factories and subcontractors

Final assembly happens in factories across Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Myanmar and beyond. Here the risks are excessive forced overtime, wage theft, unpaid recruitment debt and unsafe buildings. When a brand’s order is too large or too rushed for its approved supplier, work is often passed to unauthorised subcontractors where no auditor visits.

Two disasters in Bangladesh show how deadly these conditions can be. In November 2012, a fire at the Tazreen Fashions factory killed at least 112 workers, many trapped behind locked exits. Five months later, on 24 April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing 1,134 people, most of them garment workers. Cracks had appeared the day before, and workers were ordered back to their machines.

4. Migrant workers

Migrant workers are especially exposed. Many pay high recruitment fees to agents in their home country and arrive already in debt, sometimes with their documents held by employers. Thailand, where Mosaic Market is based, hosts millions of migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and the same patterns of debt and dependency appear in manufacturing across the region.

Why fast fashion creates the conditions for exploitation

• Price pressure. Brands negotiate hard on unit costs. Suppliers absorb the squeeze by cutting wages, extending hours or subcontracting.
• Speed. Short lead times and last-minute order changes push factories into forced overtime.
• Distance. The more steps between a brand and the person doing the work, the easier it is for no one to be responsible.
• Weak enforcement. Labour laws exist in most producing countries, but inspection is thin and workers who speak up risk losing their jobs.

The ILO estimates that forced labour generates US$236 billion in illegal profits a year, an increase of 37 percent since 2014. Some of that money is made in supply chains that end in ordinary shops.

How to avoid supporting modern slavery in fashion

1. Buy fewer new clothes. Every item not bought is one less order pushed down a hidden chain.
2. Choose secondhand and swaps before buying new.
3. Buy from makers you can name. Small, transparent producers can tell you exactly who made your clothes. The makers and social enterprises we stock are listed in our artisan directory.
4. Look for credible standards, such as Fair Trade Certified, and read brands’ modern slavery statements with a critical eye.
5. Use your voice. Campaigns led by groups such as the Clean Clothes Campaign and Anti-Slavery International push brands and governments to act.

How Mosaic Market responds

Mosaic Market is a freedom business of Rise Foundation Asia, which supports people leaving exploitation in Southeast Asia. Our own label, Thrive Ethical Fashion, employs women from vulnerable and exploited backgrounds in a fair-wage workshop in Chiang Mai, with training, mentorship and trauma-informed support. For more on how trafficking is changing in the region, read our Human Trace editorial series.

Frequently asked questions

Is there slavery in fast fashion?

Yes. Forced labour, debt bondage and child labour have been documented at several stages of clothing supply chains, especially in fibre harvesting, spinning and subcontracted factories.

How many people are in modern slavery?

50 million people on any given day in 2021, including 27.6 million in forced labour, according to the ILO, Walk Free and IOM.

What is the Sumangali scheme?

A labour practice in southern India in which adolescent girls are recruited into spinning mills with the promise of a lump-sum payment at the end of a long contract, often for a dowry. Payments have frequently been reduced or withheld.

What is the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act?

A US law, in force since June 2022, that presumes goods made wholly or partly in Xinjiang, China, involve forced labour unless the importer can prove otherwise.

How can I tell if my clothes were made with forced labour?

It is very hard for shoppers to know for certain. Buying less, buying secondhand, and buying from small makers who can name the people who made your clothes are the most reliable ways to reduce the risk.

Every figure in this article links to its original source. Last checked 3 October 2026 by the Mosaic Project team. Spotted something out of date? Email contact@mosaicmarket.co.

Methodology. Figures come from the ILO, UNICEF, Walk Free, IOM and the UN human rights office. Case descriptions draw on published investigations by established anti-slavery organisations.

Sources

1. ILO, Walk Free and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage (2022)
2. ILO, Annual profits from forced labour amount to US$236 billion (March 2024)
3. ILO and UNICEF, Despite progress, child labour still affects 138 million children globally (June 2025)
4. UN OHCHR, Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (August 2022)
5. Anti-Slavery International, antislavery.org
6. Clean Clothes Campaign, cleanclothes.org