This piece of writing is not pleasant to read. I tried to
make it like that because the subject matter is not possible to sugar coat. It’s
been hidden far too long, rotting and growing out of control, so
shining a light on it will always be ugly and unpleasant.
The fashion industry crisis is remarkably complex yet
simple. It is a matrix of economics, multi layered exploitation, globalisation
and capitalist mindsets. Yet at its most basic level, it is an industry driven
by greed, desperation and ignorance. The
only reason I am even attempting to articulate anything about it is because I
think all people have been created good and have the potential to do good, and
a lot of the time it is honest ignorance that fuels this beast. So maybe if
people knew, it may lose its power.
The following statistics are reliable, sourced from a documentary
and double checked. If there were any disparities, I took the least shocking
number...
·
- 93% of American clothing is outsourced from factories in the developing world
- Bangladesh, the most common origin of clothing, has a minimum wage of $3 per day
- There are approximately 40 million garment workers in the world today, 85% of these are women
- In the past 16 years, there has been 250,000 farmer suicides in the developing world due to the pressure put on them to produce cheap cotton and resources for large companies. This is one farmer every 30 seconds, the largest recorded wave of suicides ever in history
- Globally, we buy 80 billion pieces of new clothing a year, a 400% increase from 2 decades ago
- Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, second only to the oil industry
Here is the simple version of the problem.
In the past, clothing was mostly made locally, or at least
within the country it was sold in. Clothes were seen as something you would
buy, look after, and expect to last for a good amount of time... Then, with the
evolution of globalisation and the industrial revolution, we saw something emerge
now known as Fast Fashion.
Similar to the fast food industry... low quality,
quick and cheap.
Instead of having two seasons of clothing, winter and summer,
there was new styles coming out every week, moving ruthlessly towards an
industry that only benefits large companies.
Those at the top of the product chain (That’s you and me)
can choose who makes their clothes, and it became whoever would give the
cheapest price. So multi-billion dollar clothing companies are employing dirt
cheap labor in developing nations such as Bangladesh because then they can sell it cheaper back
home and still enjoy a ridiculous mark up on the products.
These companies then
come back and say “We can get this type of shirt made for $4 in another city
and if you don’t do it for us for $3 then we’ll take our business and go
somewhere else”. These factory owners are desperate for the business of Western
clothing lines, so they have no choice. The material itself and the resources
taken to create the clothes is not getting any cheaper, but our clothing prices
in the West are dropping each year... The only place these margins can be squeezed
is at the garment workers themselves. With longer hours, lesser pay and worsening conditions,
the risk and burden of Fast Fashion is being carried by those who are most
vulnerable.
Don’t just think women in sweat shops... Think billions of
tonnes of landfill, think 50 million L of contaminated water from leather
factories pouring into the local water source in India every single day. Think
cotton farmers forced to treat their precious land like a factory, putting
pressure on it that is rapidly becoming evident it cannot sustain. Think women
having to take their children to family or friends because they cannot work
enough hours to feed them. Think increasing levels of birth defects, cancers
and disabilities in the villages near where cotton pesticides are spraying. Think
millions and millions of vulnerable people being oppressed, enslaved and
killed... in the name of Fashion.
There are two major industry events that I think are
important to be aware of, because they represent the risk, the sacrifice and
the suffering behind the clothes we can get so cheaply today.
 |
| Weeping for missing and dead loved ones outside Rana Plaza |
In April 2013, workers in the Bangladeshi garment factory,
known as Rana Plaza, noticed structural problems with the building. It was an
old factory and money had not been invested in maintaining the building, since
there are no enforced Health and Safety or building laws in Bangladesh. After
pointing out their concerns and having received an order to evacuate, factory
owners forced all the workers back into the building and demanded they continue
making clothes. Later that day, the building collapsed, as predicted, trapping
and killing 1129 workers.
 |
| Garment Factory Rana Plaza collapses, killing 1129 |
Their voice of warning was drowned out by the noise
of consumerism and they paid the price. For me, the most tragic part of this
story is that 2014, the year following the Rana Plaza collapse, was the highest
income generating year for large companies based in Bangladesh. Their deaths
were seemingly in vain and now two years later Bangladesh still lacks any form of
collective rights, no trade union rights, a very low minimum wage, no maternity
leave and no pensions. There is
absolutely nothing preventing history repeating itself.
 |
| Garment workers take to the streets protesting for living wage |
 |
| Police respond to protesters with violence in Vietnam |
Between July 2013-2014 there was growing unrest and protests
in Vietnam as workers began to demand better working conditions and a living
wage. The protests took to the streets as garment workers refused to work and
demanded to be heard. The police, supported by the government, responded in
violence and shots were fired, people beaten and killed... Again, in the name
of cheap clothing. Their demands were
too high, not reasonable said the officials opposing the protests. Friend,
please understand, these Vietnamese workers fought and were pushed down again
over their request to raise their wage to $160 a month, just over $5 per day.
There is page and pages I could write, illuminating the
struggle of millions around the world whose future is sewn into the hems of our
clothing and shipped overseas. I could write about the seductive deception of
advertising, the way we are lied to about what we need and want, then taken for
a ride by multibillion dollar corporations. I could write about the exponential
environmental impacts of fashion and how even the earth itself is suffering
from our greed.
But instead I will leave you with the haunting words of Shima,
a young Bangladeshi woman and mother who since the age of 12 has been a garment
worker. She was in the Rana Plaza collapse and had previously spoken up against
her factory owners about working conditions, a move that caused her to be
beaten with electric cords and cut with scissors. Shima was forced to take her precious
young daughter Nadia to her parents’ house far away and leave her there because
she so desperately wanted a future for her that was better than her own. She is
beautiful. She is strong. And it is for people like her that we need to take a
stand.
“People have no idea
how difficult it is for us to make their clothing. They only buy it and wear it
for a while. I believe this clothing is made by our blood. A lot of people die
in factories. I don’t want anybody wearing something that was made with blood.
I never wanted this.” - Shima
 |
| Shima with her daughter Nadia before leaving her with relatives to return to work. |
