“This law is truly historic, it’s quite incredible what happened,” reacts Julia Faure, from the En mode climat collective.

The National Assembly adopted measures on Thursday aimed at curbing fast fashion. The text will notably “protect the consumer”, believes Julia Faure, fashion designer and co-founder of En mode climat.

“This law is truly historic, it’s quite incredible what happened”reacted Friday March 15 on franceinfo Julia Faure, fashion designer and co-founder of En mode climat, a collective of sustainable fashion brands which brings together 600 French clothing companies, while the National Assembly adopted Thursday measures to penalize fast fashion.

MEPs voted unanimously to ban advertising for the sale of clothing at knockdown prices and a reinforced environmental “penalty” to make them less attractive. The text must now go through the Senate. “Yesterday France adopted a regulation that no one in the world has managed to pass. It’s something quite incredible. Is it likely to stem the phenomenon? Yes”, she estimated. The targeted brands denounce an attack on consumer freedom: “The role of the nation, the role of a State, is precisely to protect the consumer”replies Julia Faure, in the same way that it protects young people from the harm of alcohol and tobacco.

franceinfo: Why is this law important?

Julia Faure: This law is truly historic. It’s quite incredible what happened. Yesterday France adopted a regulation that no one in the world has managed to pass. Is this likely to stem the phenomenon? Yes ! And it’s the first time. It’s been twenty years that nothing stands in the way of fast fashion and for the first time, there will be penalties for brands that encourage too much consumption, that produce in poor conditions. There will be a ban on advertising for brands that have passed such levels of incentive to consume that it becomes dangerous for our economy and for the ecology. There are other measures which are extremely important, for example the indexation of bonus-malus on environmental labeling. This kind of textile nutri-score which will be deployed in the coming weeks or months is quite brilliant. This is a lot of work that was done by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Ecological Transition Agency in Paris (Ademe). Overall, brands that produce far away with polyester will have a bad rating and brands that produce locally with natural, organic materials will have good ratings.

Do you think this will change consumer behavior, who looks first and foremost at their wallet?

This law does not target the consumer. Fast fashion lobbies say: “We let the consumer decide. It’s the consumer’s freedom. The consumer must have access to fashion.” It’s not a tax on the price of the product that’s being charged, it’s a company-wide penalty. The company can change its behavior if it does not want to pay this penalty. All it has to do is produce more eco-friendly clothing, more locally, and encourage less consumption. If it really is penalized, it is not obliged to pass it on to the price of the product. This argument which consists of saying: by putting penalties on fast fashion, we are penalizing the poorest, it is an argument that you will find in the mouths of these own brands which will be penalized but not in the mouths of solidarity associations who help the most vulnerable. Emmaüs, which cannot really be accused of being an association of bourgeois or bobos, supports this law.

Consumer freedom is not a good argument, in your opinion?

It is an extremely heavy mental load to have to think about all the negative externalities of the things we buy and consume. That’s what the laws are there for. It’s disgusting to leave the consumer the choice between products that come from slavery and are cheap and products that are more expensive but well produced. The role of the nation, the role of a State, is precisely to protect the consumer from all of this. These ultra fast fashion brands very much target our teenagers, who are minors. We protect them against many abuses. They are not allowed to drink alcohol, we are not allowed to sell them tobacco. Why would it be allowed to sell them clothes that are produced in poverty-stricken conditions? Wanting to leave this choice to the consumer is not the right debate, it is not the role of the consumer.

France is the first country to legislate. Is the next step Europe?

Today, at the European level, there is the vote on the duty of vigilance law which began to be thought about after the collapse of Rana Plaza, this building in Bangladesh where there were seamstresses who made our clothes, and during which there were thousands of deaths. In the rubble, we found labels from brands that sell in France and which have never been held responsible for this disaster. This law says: “You, the brands, if something happens in your supply chain, if there is a social or ecological tragedy, we can take you to court.” This is the best thing we can do to promote made in Europe and made in France. If there is something magical in our country, it is that there are social and environmental standards that make these disasters unlikely to happen. This law at European level will be voted on today. Fingers crossed that it is ambitious. We also need legislation at European level. But it is extremely important to have laws also at the national level. The law on the duty of vigilance at European level is inspired by French law. Everything we do in France is intended to inspire laws at European level and elsewhere.