On the 30th of June the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of the UK was put back into lockdown following a spike in Covid-19 cases. The new outbreak of the virus put the spotlight on the garment district of the city - where the new outbreak may have emerged - much of which is characterised by extremely exploitative labour practices in small factories serving giant online retailers such as Boohoo and major high street brands. I spoke to Ashok Kumar about the reshoring of garment production in the UK, how Covid-19 has affected and changed the manufacturing of clothes in both the global north and south, and how fast fashion helps to prevent increased investment in technology and serves to maintain labour-intensive forms of production.
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