Less than 2% of clothing workers earn a fair wage – while many of us have wardrobes full of unworn outfits. Here’s how to break the cycle

It’s the toxic relationship too many of us can’t quit. An impulse purchase here, a pick-me-up there. A quick scroll, a flirty click, a casual add-to-basket. Who are we hurting?

Recent news linking the budget fashion giant Boohoo (which also owns Coast, Karen Millen, and now Oasis and Warehouse) to claims of “modern slavery” in one of Leicester’s garment factories has served to remind us of the sobering answer to this question. Not only is fashion one of the world’s most wasteful and polluting industries, but it’s also one of the most exploitative. Less than 2% of clothing workers globally earn a fair living wage, with most trapped in systemic poverty at almost every stage of the long and shadowy supply chains. While we enjoy the ease, speed and abundance, it’s they who are paying the price.