Weekender: Xinjiang cotton forces fashion to choose its focus — East or West?
A recent controversy has erupted over brands who use Xinjiang cotton, exposing fashion’s role in U.S.-China tensions as well as its broader problems with human rights abuses. For background, the Xinjiang region of China is responsible for about afifth of global cotton production. In fact, it contributes to a whopping 1.5 billion garments imported annually by American brands. Xinjiang is also notably home to the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority group which has largely been oppressed by China and has allegedly been forced to work in labor camps.