Fashion, Business and Human Rights

An Introduction to Business and Human Rights in the Fashion Industry

Understanding human rights is essential for anyone entering today’s global fashion industry. Decisions made in design studios, supply chains, and retail outlets have real consequences for people around the world.

This short course offers a clear, practical foundation in fashion, business, and human rights. Through real-world examples and plain-language explanations, students learn how to identify risk, make ethical decisions, and understand their responsibilities within global supply chains.

Ideal for future designers, buyers, brand owners, and sourcing professionals, the course helps students stand out as professionals who understand how to do business with integrity.

Course Overview

Format: Six-part beginner-level course (flexible)

The course is delivered through a series of Insight Sessions, each led by Neill Wilkins. Sessions build from foundational concepts to practical application, helping students connect human rights principles to real business decisions across the fashion industry.

Each Insight Session includes:

  • A clear, engaging presentation

  • A moderated Q&A

  • Group discussion to explore how issues apply to students’ own areas of study, including design, sourcing, production, marketing, and retail

Key terms and frameworks are explained in accessible language. Follow-up materials and suggested readings are provided to support further learning and reflection.

While the course is designed as a six-part series, sessions can be tailored to meet institutional requirements. Modules can be combined, adapted, or delivered as stand‑alone sessions on related topics

Insight Sessions

1. Introduction to Business and Human Rights

This session sets the foundation by exploring how business operations intersect with people’s rights across the globe, and why fashion professionals have a crucial role to play.

Topics include:

  • What human rights are and how they apply to business

  • Climate risk and the fashion industry in a +1.5°C world

  • What “doing the right thing” looks like in a business context

  • The links between brand reputation, risk, and responsibility

Outcome: Students understand the core language and concerns of business and human rights, and how the fashion industry can both harm and uphold rights.

2. Understanding Supply Chains

From cotton fields to clothing rails, fashion depends on long and complex supply chains. This session breaks down how supply chains work, who is involved, and where risks and responsibilities lie.

Topics include:

  • How supply chains operate and why understanding them matters

  • Looking beyond Tier 1 suppliers

  • Key risk areas: wages, hours, safety, and informal work

  • Outsourcing, subcontracting, and transparency challenges

  • Tools and strategies such as audits and traceability systems

Outcome: Students gain practical insight into supply chains and how brand-level decisions affect workers globally.

3. Modern Slavery Still Exists

This session examines how forced labour and modern slavery persist in today’s fashion supply chains, and how businesses are expected to respond.

Topics include:

  • Definitions and forms of modern slavery

  • What makes workers vulnerable: debt, coercion, and deception

  • Red flags in supply chains, including subcontracting and recruitment fees

  • The UK Modern Slavery Act and international regulatory trends

Outcome: Students develop a clearer understanding of modern slavery, legal obligations, operational risk, and reputational impact.

4. Women Workers and Migrant Workers

Women and migrant workers form the backbone of the apparel industry, yet face heightened risks of abuse and exploitation. This session focuses on gender and migration in global supply chains.

Topics include:

  • Discrimination, harassment, and underpayment faced by women workers

  • Gender-sensitive workplace policies and good practice

  • Migrant worker recruitment: fees, deception, and document retention

  • Recruitment debt and pathways to forced labour

  • The Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity

Outcome: Students understand how gender and migrant status create increased vulnerability in supply chains.

5. Responsible Business in Practice

This session introduces human rights due diligence and explores how ethical business practice is evolving in response to regulation, investor pressure, and public demand for transparency.

Topics include:

  • What drives improvements in ethical business practice

  • Human rights due diligence: mapping, assessing, and addressing risk

  • Multi‑stakeholder initiatives (including ETI, SEDEX, Open Supply Hub, ACT)

  • Sector-wide approaches and transparency pledges

  • Case studies of good and poor practice

Outcome: Students gain insight into what meaningful change looks like and how ethical standards are implemented in practice.

6. Your Role: Taking Action in Your Field

Every role in fashion carries responsibility. This session focuses on how individuals can influence business culture from the inside.

Topics include:

  • Identifying leverage points in different fashion roles

  • Being a “critical friend” within a business

  • Internal tools such as codes of conduct, grievance mechanisms, whistleblowing systems, and ESG reporting

  • Global movements, certifications, and initiatives

  • Building a CV or personal brand that reflects ethical values

Outcome: Students leave with practical tools, confidence, and clarity on how they can promote responsible business practices from any position in the industry.

Enquiries

We welcome informal, no‑obligation enquiries—please get in touch to discuss your needs and how we can make this course fit your requirements.

For further information, course tailoring, or booking enquiries:

Email: neill.wilkins@ethical-impact.com
Phone: +44 (0)7411 798031
Website: www.ethical-impact.com