CHANGE Agents

From designers to policymakers, meet the women committed to shifting the fashion industry in a positive direction.

- NAOMI ROUGEAU

Over the last decade, we’ve all become increasingly well-informed about where, how, and by whom our clothing is manufactured. Activist Aditi Mayer has been one of the voices bringing attention to those questions. She began examining the historical, social, and political injustices that bolster the estimated $1.7 trillion industry in the wake of 2013’s Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. “All the greatest fights of our time—from the climate catastrophe to racism—are acutely linked by a mentality of seeing nature, or communities, as disposable,” she says. “Fashion, as an industry, is an extension of this.” Each of the 11 women featured here experienced similar moments that spurred them to do their part and utilize their own unique skill sets, from policymaking to inventing alternative leathers.

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE