‘Fashion Act’ Supporters Head to Albany for Rally, Lobbying Efforts

NEW YORK — In the thick of the spring legislative season, sustainable fashion advocates are making their case in Albany for New York State’s “Fashion Act.”

The Act on Fashion Coalition has a full day ahead on Tuesday for lobby day. Chartering a bus from downtown Manhattan early Tuesday morning, the organizers (all volunteers) have a rally planned around noon and press conference to be held at the New York Capitol. Throughout the day various lawmaker lobbying meetings are in store as advocates try to get their points across on a relatively nuanced topic.

For the Fashion Act, or The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, these speaking points trace elements such as required supply chain mapping, mandatory due diligence and would-be enforcement mechanisms for keeping fashion companies with $100 million in revenues that do business in New York, in line with environmental, social and governance efforts.

The bill was introduced in October by New York State policymakers Sen. Alessandra Biaggi and Assembly Member Dr. Anna Kelles.

“The Act on Fashion Coalition is focused on ongoing discussions with NYS lawmakers — ensuring they are aware of the scope, scale and urgency of the negative impacts of the global fashion industry and the need for groundbreaking legislation,” commented Michelle Gabriel, an educator at Glasgow Caledonian University in New York, who is an organizing member with the Act on Fashion Coalition. “We need legislators to make reforming the fashion industry a priority. Another day that goes by without regulation is another day of the status quo, for workers and for the environment. Members of the coalition continue to be committed and dedicate their time to show up in Albany and let legislators know that they need to pass the Fashion Act.”

The coalition spans a variety of stakeholders including lawmakers, labor rights groups, community organizations, environmentalists, academia and industry groups. Coalition members like New Standard Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, EarthDay.org and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, as well as influential industry voices like sustainable designer Stella McCartney, were among inaugural supporters.

Bill amendments are anticipated this week with the release being “slower than we had hoped,” in the words of Gabriel, due to the commentary and feedback period from stakeholder groups.

Over the next few weeks educational talks by organizers are planned around a number of fashion adjacent campuses including Fordham’s Fashion Law Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology and Columbia’s Earth Institute.

For more on this topic, See:

Everything You Need to Know About New York’s Fashion Act

‘Fashion Act’ Bill Seeks to Make New York a Sustainability Leader

Fashion Advocates Believe ‘Fashion Act’ Lacks Key Elements