When news broke last year, I checked the tag of my t-shirt to see where it was made. Bangladesh. I naturally freaked out. I usually check the tag to see what materials it’s made out of and will invariably see where it’s been made but out of sight and out of mind as I don’t think that extra step of what it might be like for the workers. I was not a regular clothes buyer but I did buy clothes and knew about sweatshops but you don’t get much more information from your clothing company other than where it was made. So all of a sudden, I had all these questions.
How does a factory with THAT many people, not have at the very basic level, a structural building? Is our over consuming “i want what she’s wearing” society fueling this? Why aren’t these big western brands not assuring decent working conditions for those that are making their clothing? Does this not come under corporate social responsibility in a business model? Why should we be paying so much for a piece of clothing where the workers making them make them for so little? Why the disparity and how do we fix it?
I was tweeted this link today by Kirby Bee, which is an interactive video about the Bangladeshi garment industry and what happend the day Rana Plaza collapsed from some of their workers. It’s an interesting video that will hopefully make you think about where the clothes you’re in are made from and will raise some social awareness.
What options do we have to make a difference as consumers and how do we go about it?
April 24th will be Fashion Revolution Day, #insideout on twitter!
I have some answers to my questions and some remain unanswered, but I hope that it’s something that I will continue to investigate and hope to share on this blog in the future.
– S.