Regulation wave in the fashion industry: media framing of legalised CSR

This chapter investigates media framing of recently proposed fashion regulations, such as the New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act. If passed, this legislation will have a profound impact on the industry. Though CSR has traditionally been conceptualised as voluntary, current developments in fashion such as greenwashing, poor working conditions and adherence to detrimental practices like burning of textile waste have led to an assumption that self-regulation by fashion companies is no longer feasible. Yet, the discussed regulations are still pending. Meanwhile, media outlets have a capacity to promote or hamper the proposed regulations. By highlighting certain aspects while downplaying the others, the media promotes certain views, moral judgements and interpretations that can shape public opinion. For this chapter, a B2B platform called ‘Business of Fashion’ is chosen as a case study. This media targets the fashion community professionals, including creatives, entrepreneurs, executives and researchers. The analysis suggests that Business of Fashion has adopted a positive tone towards tighter state regulations of the fashion industry portraying it as the efficient leverage for reaching higher sustainability. This argument also rests on a strong moral frame that regards that CSR, if voluntary, creates little accountability.