Q&A with Safia Minney MBE on 'Slave to Fashion'

London - Modern slavery is a subject most fashion businesses tend to shy away from. Although many deny its presences within the fashion industry, the fact remains that modern slavery is very much present in all areas of the industry. But what does modern slavery in fashion really look like? And what can be done to eradicate it once and for all? These are some of the questions being tackled by social entrepreneur and founder of fair trade fashion brand People Tree Safia Minney MBE, who seeks to end modern slavery through a new project launched on Kickstarter, 'Slave to Fashion.' FashionUnited spoke with Minney in order to learn more about her campaign, modern slavery and what she hopes to achieve with 'Slave to Fashion.'

How would you define modern slavery within the fashion industry?

“Through my work in fair trade over the past twenty-five years I have seen several different aspects of exploitation in the fashion industry at its worst. Modern slavery is forced and bonded labour. Sometimes it occurs as the consequence of human trafficking - people who were promised better lives are ending up in very vulnerable positions within the supply chains that are part of the fashion industry. It also includes child labour, which is anything from children picking cotton right the way through to them working in spinning mills and manufacturing. Modern day slavery is effectively the worst side of highly exploitative business practices in the industry. And exploitative conditions run right through the supply chain and are in every sector.”