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Can Fashion Keep Up Its Geopolitical Balancing Act?

H&M, Nike and others are under pressure from Chinese netizens for their stance on Xinjiang cotton, underscoring the difficult balancing act of doing business when people in the world’s largest markets take radically different views on geopolitical issues.
Global fashion and beauty brands walk a marketing tightrope when navigating tensions between China and the West.
Global fashion and beauty brands walk a marketing tightrope when navigating tensions between China and the West. (Illustration by Zoe Suen for BoF)
By
BoF PROFESSIONAL

This week, major fashion brands including H&M, Nike, Adidas, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Converse and Uniqlo came under attack over their stance against sourcing cotton from China’s Xinjiang region. Chinese netizens called for boycotts after a year-old statement from H&M saying the brand would no longer use cotton sourced from Xinjiang resurfaced on social media, igniting a firestorm that soon engulfed several other brands.

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About the author
Vikram Alexei Kansara
Vikram Alexei Kansara

Vikram Alexei Kansara is Editorial Director at The Business of Fashion. He is based in London and oversees BoF’s luxury, fashion week, art, sustainability, global markets and opinion verticals.

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