With the power of technology and legal clout, many experts agree that 2017 could be the tipping point in the global battle against human trafficking and modern slavery.

Seph Skerritt bought his first custom shirt in Shanghai, during an internship after college. It got him thinking why the same service wasn't available to a wider audience. "I told them exactly what I wanted, and that's what I got," he said.

On Toyota's brightly lit assembly line here, workers guide wheel and engine assemblies into unfinished sedans. Driverless carts carry parts through narrow aisles to work stations. The assembly line moves with clockwork precision, able to pop out a vehicle every 72 seconds.

In 2017 the luxury industry will be faced with a precarious balancing act on multiple fronts. Brands will be forced to find an equilibrium between an exponential growth in technology and their traditional emphasis on the human hand; between understanding their customers' behavior and surveilling it; between their global presence and their local consumer groups; and between the poles of a customer spectrum that stretches not just around the world, but over decades, from Generation Z to the silver dollar.

"Maybe we won't ever get married, and maybe we will ... but it will be wild, it will be kind, and it will be real." So says the voice-over for a short film created for the Diamond Producers Association's "Real Is Rare" marketing campaign.

U.S. factory activity accelerated to a five-month high in November amid a pickup in new orders and production, suggesting that the manufacturing sector was regaining its footing after a prolonged slump.

A group of prominent religious leaders recently urged Australia to introduce laws to ensure forced labor is not used to produce goods sold in the country, saying ending slavery needed to be a national priority.

British budget fashion chain Primark recently said it was constantly on the watch for any slavery in its supply chain while dismissing the idea that low cost meant exploitation.