Week 4: Who Made My Clothes?

Week 4: Slaves of Globalization and Breaking the Shackles
ASA 141
Franchesca Flores

Photo from, “There’s Something Wrong with the Way We’re Buying Clothes, by Kate Dingwall

The title of the article, “Santa’s Sweatshop,” already speaks voices. Holstein puts faces to the items that we purchase not just for Christmas gifts, but when we want to have fun. This week’s topic about the manufacturing process of clothing really stuck with me and made think twice about the items I purchase and consume. Khandual mentions in her article, “Fashion Brands and Consumers Approach Toward Sustainable Fashion,” brands that work towards sustainable designs and products that acknowledge their impact on the world, people and waste in the fashion industry. 

1.5 million tons of waste can be found in landfills every year, referenced by the author, Mahajan. Khandual introduces brands and some of their ethical designs that any brand or person can take into consideration when shopping and making clothing. Some alternatives are upcycling clothing, which is when clothes are reconstructed and produced for higher functionality. Another design by, Amit Aggarwal, a part of AM.IT constructs jewelry and different apparels made of disposed bindi sheets, recycled plastics and materials. In addition to the waste factor of fashion, there are the people who construct our clothes that are affected in the fashion industry. In the documentary, “The True Cost,” on Netflix, the film digs deeper into fast fashion and the people who work to make our $20 jeans happen. In order for the prices to be a good deal, the people making the products are asked to work faster and for less money than the price on the rack. Not only are these factors bad enough, they are asked to work in poor working conditions that make no consideration for the facility and the children the families have. Seeing this information through the format of a video visually puts me in perspective on my impact on the world and fast fashion. I now look forward into the ways that I can impact the world and its people in an ethical and sustainable way. 

Question: Are there any brands that you know of the accepts clothing to be up-cycled?