In just a few weeks it will be International Women’s Day, an occasion on which we celebrate the exceptional women in our lives and honour the progress forged by women in every area of society. It is important to celebrate our milestones and shared successes. However, I also believe it’s critical that we understand the origins of this day and its connections to persisting exploitation.

On March 8, 1908, female garment workers took to the streets of New York City to protest harsh working conditions, hazardous environments and increased rates of child labour. Although the protests themselves changed very little, they served as an early symbol of the feminist movement.

Three years later, in 1911, a garment factory in Manhattan caught fire. Regulations that existed to prevent unauthorised bathroom breaks and avert theft locked everyone inside, leading to the death of 146 workers, 123 of whom were women and girls. This remains one of the worst workplace disasters in US history, and a marker of reform for working women and people across the US. Since this incident, manufacturing has largely moved overseas where workplace regulations have not followed. In fact, it is clear the garment industry has intentionally moved to places beyond regulation of national borders. Rather than working towards protection for all workers, companies have simply outsourced the issue to countries where less regulation exists and workers are paid lower wages.

More than a century after the Manhattan garment factory fire, the Rana Plaza Factory collapsed in Bangladesh. The factory was a well-known destination for the manufacturing of global fast fashion brands. Its collapse killed 1,134 people and harmed countless others. Despite warnings that the building was unstable and unsafe to work in, staff were coerced to work. Days after its collapse, bodies were still being pulled from the rubble, with name brands and fast fashion company tags, including Zara and Primark, strewn amid the rubble. Despite the more than 100 years between these two events, it is shocking how little has changed. Even more shocking is the fact that the fashion industry is still grounded in the exploitation of working women.

The fashion industry remains one of the world’s dirtiest and most exploitative industries in the world because of its well-known human rights violations and adverse environmental effects. The complex, multi-tier supply chains that exist in the industry leave workers highly vulnerable to modern slavery and other forms of extreme exploitation. Cotton and garments (apparel and clothing accessories) are among the top three products at risk of involving forced labour. One in five garments in the world, for example, likely contain fibre produced in the Xinjiang province of China. Wherever you are shopping, it is likely that your wardrobe has come into contact with modern slavery.

Although well-intentioned, the thought that higher prices directly correlate with paying workers higher wages is not true. A piece of clothing may cost thousands of dollars, but this does not automatically mean that the workers’ rights were respected. In fact, luxury brands often have the most opaque supply chains, providing minimal information when it comes to workers’ protection, especially when you move beyond the first tier of their supply chain.

Fashion Revolution’s 2022 Fashion Transparency Index reviews the world’s largest fashion brands according to their level of public disclosure on human rights. Those that score between zero to five percent disclose none or very limited information on hiring practices or local engagement. Among this bottom 5 percent sit Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and DKNY. Other luxury brands only scored slightly higher in the ranks. Those who scored between 11 to 20 percent published some information about their supply chains and remediation process. However, these brands did not publish supplier lists nor any tangible information regarding decent work. In the bottom 20 percent sit brands including Prada, Chanel, Versace and Michael Kors. While fast fashion is the leading driver of exploitation in this industry, it is critical we understand the culpability of the entire industry—especially the most powerful and wealthy who drive many of the trends from the top.

Despite the largely disappointing leadership of the big players in this sector, we are seeing women changing the fashion industry from within. Take Nasreen Sheikh, who spent her childhood in modern slavery in the garment industry, only to turn her first-hand experience into global activism for supply chain transparency. Or Ayesha Barenblat, founder of Remake, who leads the #PayUp movement and continues to fight for workers to be paid for the hours spent producing cancelled orders throughout Covid-19. Then there are women such as Aja Barber, slow fashion campaigner and author of Consumed; Céline Semaan, founder of the organisation Slow Factory, which focusses on climate justice and reimagining fashion waste; Katharine Bryant, who leads Walk Free’s Government Response Index, measuring global progress towards eradicating modern slavery; and Orsola De Castro and Carry Somers, who founded Fashion Revolution. This is just a small selection of the many revolutionary women creating change and real accountability in the fashion industry.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day this year, let’s remember the origins of modern feminism and remind ourselves that if our celebration doesn’t include all women it isn’t really feminism. It was garment workers who ignited an international fight for freedom and respect. It is only right that as we mark this significant day once again, we recognise those who continue to carry the legacy of female workers everywhere. We must recognise that this fight is ongoing and that we all have a part to play in ensuring its success.