A Manifesto for Change: Fashion’s Just Transition Takes a Major Step Forward

On May 1st, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), together with its allies, officially launched the Fashioning a Just Transition Manifesto—a powerful collective call to transform the global fashion industry. The manifesto has already been endorsed by 234 organisations across Europe and Asia, signalling growing momentum behind a movement to reshape fashion into a system that prioritises people, planet, and justice over profit.

A Vision Beyond Profit

At its core, the manifesto challenges the dominant model of the fashion industry by imagining a system that meets human needs without exploiting workers or damaging the environment. It argues that such a transformation is both urgent and achievable—if people collectively stand up for their rights to a decent living and a livable future.

Co-developed by young people, garment workers, civil society allies, and the Clean Clothes Campaign, the manifesto presents both near-term goals for 2030 and a long-term vision for a reimagined industry. It outlines a future where fashion creates dignified, climate-resilient jobs while operating within planetary boundaries.

From Statement to Movement

More than a declaration, the manifesto is intended as a “guiding star”—a tool to inspire mobilisation. It aims to energise workers, youth, activists, and the wider public to organise in solidarity with those across the global fashion value chain. By strengthening awareness and collective action, it seeks to push for a truly just transition.

Voices from the Movement

Supporters across the globe emphasise that environmental sustainability cannot be separated from social justice.

Khalid Mahmood of the Labour Education Foundation stressed that climate action in the garment industry must go hand in hand with labour rights, living wages, and worker participation. For workers in countries like Pakistan, a transition cannot be considered “just” if it continues to leave them in poverty or excludes them from decision-making.

Alena Ivanova of Labour Behind the Label described the manifesto as an important milestone. She highlighted that wealth redistribution, tax justice, and welfare protection are just as essential as environmental sustainability—and that real solutions will come from collective action rather than corporate leadership.

Armin Šestić of Zora reinforced a key message: without living wages, there is no true justice. A “green transition” that leaves workers in poverty is not a just transition. Living wages, he argued, are the foundation for meaningful change.

Principles for a Just Fashion System

The manifesto outlines a clear framework for what a just fashion system should look like. It calls for an industry that:

• Guarantees decent work, equal rights, and a high quality of life for all workers
• Delivers justice—social, economic, gender, and climate—both now and in the future
• Redistributes wealth through living wages and universal social protection
• Shares the costs of climate action fairly
• Ensures workers have a voice and can speak without fear
• Restores nature and operates within planetary limits
• Reduces overproduction while strengthening job security
• Holds corporations accountable for harm
• Transforms practices across the entire value chain
• Is built on collective power and global solidarity

A Growing Call to Action

The manifesto is grounded in a simple idea: the people who make and wear clothes should shape the future of fashion. It brings together workers, activists, trade unions, and social movements united in their demand for a world free from exploitation.

The Clean Clothes Campaign is now inviting organisations and individuals worldwide to endorse the manifesto and join the movement—taking the next step toward “weaving” a just future for fashion.