Sign up to receive the Vogue Business newsletter for the latest luxury news and insights, plus exclusive membership discounts.
With the US presidential election less than two months away, the fashion industry is considering how a Kamala Harris presidency might influence the sector, particularly in areas such as sustainability and supply chains.
The vice president has yet to reveal an official stance on climate, which was mentioned just once in her speech during the Democratic National Convention on 23 August, when she championed the “freedom to breathe clean air, and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis”. However, many experts, including Chellie Pingree, a Democratic congresswoman out of Maine and founder of the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus, expect her to introduce a “very climate-forward agenda”, given her political rise out of California, among America’s most climate-conscious states.
Pingree is confident that Harris’s pro-climate credentials align well with causes important to the Slow Fashion Caucus, from the lack of widespread textile recycling facilities to addressing the reality that many fashion textiles are derived from oil and gas when the nation should be decoupling from fossil fuel dependence. “I believe that she’s going to follow a lot of the same principles,” she adds.
The Democratic presidential nominee, a longtime proponent of strategies to combat climate change, intuitively understands the deep connections between climate inaction, environmental degradation, and social justice, says Andrea Kennedy, Berkeley College’s fashion department lead, referring to the vice president spearheading initiatives to eliminate lead pipes and remediate hazardous Superfund sites. “It’s in her DNA to tackle these issues head-on.”
Harris’s legacy hints at what her leadership might offer, says Michelle Gabriel, programme director of sustainable fashion at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). “She has a solid track record as Attorney General and Senator of California, including prosecuting polluters, supporting the Green New Deal, and casting the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest climate investment in US history,” she says. Instrumental in advancing $20 billion in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Harris was America’s frontwoman at COP28, advocating for continued climate investments and noting the nation’s emergence as “a leader in the effort to expand international climate finance”.
Harris, Gabriel continues, “is unafraid of challenging big industry, having taken on Exxon and the five largest mortgage lenders after the 2008 crash. Her experience aligns well with the need to regulate fashion, one of the least regulated industries.”
Legislative proposals including the state-level New York Fashion Act (the Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act), as well as the Fabric Act, aim to increase accountability within the fashion industry by addressing labour rights and environmental sustainability. The New York Fashion Act, targeting companies operating in New York with over $100 million in global revenue, requires firms to map at least 50 per cent of their supply chains and publicly disclose their environmental and social impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and labour practices. It also mandates companies to set clear reduction targets for these impacts, align with international labour and sustainability standards, and ensure transparency by making this information accessible on their websites, threatening fines of up to two per cent of global revenue for failure to comply. More than 90 lawmakers have signed on as co-sponsors since the bill was originally proposed in 2022.
On the federal level, the Fabric Act (Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change) focuses on strengthening labour protections within the US garment sector, offering tax credits to incentivise companies to end wage theft by proposing fair pay guarantees and ensuring safe working conditions. It also seeks to support domestic apparel manufacturing, which would reduce the carbon footprint that comes from shipping clothes and footwear from far-flung production locales, and foster sustainable practices.
While Harris’s climate policy has much in common with Biden’s — he made climate change central to his 2020 campaign, quickly assembled the National Climate Task Force after taking office, and signed the IRA into law in August 2022 — she places greater emphasis on environmental justice, says Dr Sheng Lu, director in the department of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. As San Francisco’s District Attorney, Kamala Harris established the nation’s first environmental justice unit — focused on prosecuting environmental crimes — and has routinely called attention to the environmental plight of disadvantaged and Tribal communities. Garnering support from hundreds of climate champions further adds to her eco credentials.
Harris’s choice for the next head of the Environmental Protection Agency could significantly influence policies around fabric sustainability and extended producer responsibility. “If the administration aligns with international climate agreements, the fashion industry could face increased pressure to reduce its carbon footprint,” says Congresswoman Pingree.
Rachel Kibbe, CEO of consultancy Circular Services Group and CEO of American Circular Textiles, believes Harris’s commitment to environmental justice could lead the US to adopt more ambitious climate targets, holding industries like fashion to account. Under her leadership, “we could see the US stepping up as a real leader in global climate action”, she says. “This wouldn’t just be about signing agreements — it would mean real, actionable policies that hold industries accountable, fashion included.”
Policy wishlists
Leslie Harwell, co-founder of Alante Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage companies developing innovative technologies for sectors including apparel and footwear, expects Harris’s climate agenda to be consistent with Biden’s, pointing to the Inflation Reduction Act’s focus on clean energy and shift away from fossil fuels. “There’s potential for incentives to encourage material innovation, moving away from petrochemicals,” says Harwell. Fashion has long relied on fossil fuels to create popular but pollutive fabrics like polyester, nylon, spandex and even some vegan leathers — all major sources of microplastic pollution harming global waterways and ecosystems.
Under a Harris administration, sustainable fashion legislation such as the Fabric Act and the New York Fashion Act could see new momentum, according to Kibbe. As she highlights, policies like The Americas Act could foster regional cooperation, creating a system where stronger labour protections and sustainability standards become the norm. The proposed US legislative initiative aims to beef up economic ties with Latin American countries, expand existing trade agreements, and incentivise businesses to shift operations to Latin America, supporting regional economies and countering China’s growing influence in the region. By encouraging nearshoring, the bill aims to enhance local supply chains, particularly in key sectors like textiles and apparel. This policy also aligns with efforts to address broader challenges such as economic growth, migration, and humanitarian issues in the hemisphere.
“Harris gets that for labour laws like those proposed in the Fabric Act to be effective, they have to be part of a broader strategy that includes improving trade policies across the Western Hemisphere,” Kibbe argues. “This approach not only supports fairer working conditions and environmental responsibility but also helps create a more level playing field for companies operating in the US and beyond,” she says. “If we want fashion companies to truly commit to these values, we need to ensure that the entire supply chain, including our trading partners, is aligned with these goals.”
Similarly, Rachel Kitchin, senior corporate climate campaigner for environmental advocacy organisation Stand.earth, envisions a Harris administration that ties financial incentives for onshoring manufacturing to stronger environmental standards, much like Biden’s CHIPS Act did for semiconductors.
A pro-climate Harris administration could accelerate the adoption of traceability tools in fashion, says Lu. In a recent survey, he found 70 per cent of US fashion companies plan to allocate resources towards sustainability and compliance-related regulation in 2024.
Amid the ongoing debate over banning fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu, which lean on a sprawling network of Chinese factories to rapidly manufacture millions of low-cost goods dispatched around the globe, Lu says Harris’s track record suggests she might support efforts to curb unethical labour practices and environmental degradation. Kibbe believes that instead of outright bans, Harris would prefer penalties for non-compliance, revising the much-maligned de minimis trade rule policing parcels valued at $800 or less, and incentivising sustainable practices.
With circularity becoming a focus for sustainability advocates, Gabriel hopes that a Harris administration would follow the European Union’s lead on extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation, making brands accountable for the full lifecycle of their products. This could include a system of incentives and penalties encouraging reuse and recycled materials, says Kibbe. Harris could also advocate for policies that boost funding for research and development in textile recycling technologies, making it easier for companies to reuse materials and cut down on waste, she adds.
Overall, insiders welcome the potential shift in how people view sustainability in fashion that a Harris administration could generate if it were to promote more aggressive climate policies.
“It’s long overdue for brands to be held accountable for the impact of their manufacturing,” says Stand.earth’s Kitchin. “Public perception of corporate responsibility is definitely shifting; people expect more from brands, and that can only be a good thing.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
Why what Kamala Harris wears matters
