Ms Apter said that while no Eileen Fisher garments were made in Xinjiang and she did not source any fabric or yarn from the region, the company did not know if the cotton fiber it used could be attributed to Xinjiang.
“Two years of the pandemic and a deteriorating political situation have made complete control of what is happening on the ground impossible,” Ms Apter said.
How the Supply Chain Crisis Unfolded
The pandemic triggered the problem. The highly complex and interconnected global supply chain is in upheaval. Much of the crisis can be traced to the Covid-19 outbreak, which triggered an economic slowdown, mass layoffs and a halt in production. Here’s what happened next:
A reduction in shipping costs. With fewer goods being made and fewer people with paychecks to spend at the start of the pandemic, manufacturers and shipping companies assumed demand would drop sharply. But this turned out to be a mistake, as the demand for certain items would increase.
The demand for protective equipment has increased. In early 2020, the entire planet suddenly needed surgical masks and gowns. Most of these products were made in China. As Chinese factories ramped up production, freighters began shipping equipment around the world.
Next, a shortage of shipping containers. Shipping containers piled up in many parts of the world after being emptied. The result was a shortage of containers in the country that needed them most: China, where factories would start pumping out goods in record volumes.
The demand for durable goods has increased. The pandemic has shifted Americans’ spending from eating out and attending events to office furniture, electronics and kitchen appliances — mostly purchased online. Spending has also been encouraged by government stimulus programs.
Tight supply chains. Factory goods quickly overwhelmed American ports. The increase in orders again outstripped the availability of shipping containers, and the cost of shipping a container from Shanghai to Los Angeles increased tenfold.
The company debated what to do.
“You know, maybe this farm has been certified, but we have no way to audit independently, people are intimidated, auditors don’t want to work in the field anymore, it’s impossible to really stick to it,” Ms Apter said. , recalling the discussion.
By 2021, Eileen Fisher had removed all Xinjiang cotton lint from its supply chain, she said.
LL Bean, the Maine-based private outdoor retailer, said in a statement that it stopped sourcing from textile mills in Xinjiang in 2020 and “completely withdrew from the cotton production process” at the beginning of 2021.
“We have full confidence in our due diligence process to state that none of our products are made with Chinese cotton or use forced labor,” the company said.
The decisions of small private companies to exit China have been simpler than for large retailers, which have cultivated a lucrative consumer market in the country. For fast-fashion companies like H&M and luxury brands like Burberry, which have also been the target of boycotts, the decision ultimately comes down to choosing a side: China or the rest of the world.
“It’s very difficult for a giant corporation,” said Michael Posner, president of the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit that has worked with companies like Apple to investigate working conditions at supplier factories. .
