Just a few short years ago, extreme heat caused by climate change was a futuristic projection. Now, it has arrived as a grave threat to workers up and down fashion supply chains, hampering the industry’s ability to function.
A rising number of dangerously hot days are hitting fashion factories, especially those concentrated in South and Southeast Asia, where extreme heat is most acute. Sweltering temperatures are affecting everything from the number of workers out sick or fainting on the factory floor. It is overwhelming power grids and diminishing workers’ capacities to think clearly or sew with precision.
As outlined in a report by New York University’s Stern Business School this week, it’s heat stress — and not just climate change at large — that’s emerging as one of the biggest threats to fashion’s workforce and to the resilience of the entire industry. The findings show that heat waves in India are already disrupting production, driving up absenteeism, and reducing product quality. In 2024, when temperatures in the garment-producing country rose above 104°F for days on end, workers experienced fainting spells, urinary tract infections, rashes, and worsening period cramps.
The report offers a clear playbook for brands: establish mandatory heat-risk data collection and reporting, develop standalone policies on extreme heat adaptation, and support deeper investments in cooling and ventilation in factories.
But manufacturers cannot afford to wait for brands to take action. Faced with the reality of hot temperatures, many forward-thinking manufacturers have, over the last few years, begun to rethink their factory designs and puzzle through how to keep their workforce cool, says Gauri Sharma, director of strategy and engagement at the Fashion Producer Collective (FPC), a manufacturer-led sustainability think tank. “Everyone’s trying to figure out what works for them, preparing guidance, making changes on the shop floor, and upgrading existing infrastructure installation,” says Sharma.
Now, manufacturer-led efforts are becoming more organized and vocal. FPC members have met regularly over the past six weeks to share challenges and solutions behind closed doors. Vogue Business was granted special access to some of these conversations, the findings from which are shared below. Further case studies, gathered by researchers in India, Vietnam, and Cambodia, point to examples of factories adapting on a budget (they say industry financing has not caught up to this problem yet, instead focusing its attention on reducing greenhouse gas emissions).
Some of the solutions proposed by manufacturers offer a glimpse into a climate-adapted future for fashion. But these solutions will only go so far. Tackling heat stress will require the whole industry coming together to take action.
The model factory
Garment factories weren’t designed with 120-degree heat in mind. Most are simple corrugated or concrete warehouses. Some are shed-style buildings that are open on the sides. Many are packed with humans and heat-generating machines like boilers, steam irons, and dryers, which can push indoor temperatures even higher than those outside. Air conditioning is a rarity.
Major Hong Kong-based garment manufacturer Epic Group put the comfort of its workforce first in dreaming up its new 33-acre campus, Trimetro, a net-zero model factory in Odisha, India, which employs 10,000 workers and is capable of churning out 20 million garments per year, according to VP of sustainability Vidhura Ralapanawe. It’s capable of operating smoothly in temperatures of 120°F or more. “We are really focusing on conditions of the people inside and outside the factory, and making it central to design,” he says.
To keep the factory cool as outdoor temperatures soar, even in one of the world’s most heat-stressed countries, Trimetro’s buildings and windows are oriented away from direct sunlight, roofs, and walls are wrapped in high-performance insulation that reduces the demand for cooling, and the surrounding grounds are shaded with native plants and trees that reduce outdoor temperatures by nearly 18°F in what Ralapanawe calls “microclimate management”.
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