Author(s)

Chuqi Huang, Hang Zhang

Corresponding Author

Chuqi Huang

ABSTRACT

In order to slow the spread of the corona virus, public places including clothing stores, factories and warehouses were forced to close, and people all over the world stayed at home. Due to the closure of national borders, global clothing trade is controversial, and clothing demand has fallen sharply. In response, the fashion brand suspended orders and stopped paying for finished goods. More than one million garment workers are unemployed, and this crisis has seriously threatened the survival of workers. In this context, this report aims to answer three questions: a) The economic growth of Bangladesh's clothing industry is highly dependent on the consumption of core countries, so is there any exploitation in this country? b) Does the trading system benefit developed countries and cause inequality between developing and developed countries? c) In this crisis, can corporate social responsibility help fashion companies? How can it help? In order to answer these questions, we chose case studies as our desk research method for Primark and questionnaires, and used deductive methods to test the effectiveness of dependency theory and CSR in this case. The study found that exploitative working conditions prevail in the global fashion industry, and this relationship has hurt millions of workers in Bangladesh in the current crisis. For a long time, the clothing industry in Bangladesh has developed with a trade system that is conducive to developed countries, and this trade system has suffered extremely unfair remuneration. Consumers (especially women) attach great importance to corporate social responsibility and require fashion brands to maintain transparency and accountability. The research results are consistent with the main points written in the "Dependency Theory", which re-verifies the attitude of female customers towards corporate social responsibility. The COVID-19 crisis is a wake-up call for systemic changes in the global fashion industry. The fashion revolution requires the joint efforts of fashion brands and all consumers, and more importantly, government advocacy and policy changes.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19 crisis, fashion industry, Dependency Theory global clothing trade