I Made Billboards To Show The Corporate Greed Of Fashion Industries
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Igor Dobrowolski Community member
1,134 people DIED after clothing factory building collapse in Bangladesh. 3 of the 4 biggest tragedies in fashion history took place in Bangladesh in 2013.
When companies are making factories to lower product prices, the owners can do nothing but agree and work faster and cheaper. If not, the retailer will have this done somewhere else. The only way out is to cut costs, by reducing wages for employees, lowering the working conditions and safety, produce with no respect for the environment.
“We are actually profiting from their need to work, to use them as slaves, and I’m not saying that we shouldn’t give them the work, but they have to be treated with the same respect as our children or friends. They’re not different from us ” – Livia Firth.
I made billboards, showing the greed and horrors of fashion industries and displayed them on the streets of Warsaw, Poland.
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As a nation we have become accustomed to getting goods as cheaply as possible. Of course this leads to the abuse of the laborers who create or harvest these goods. When labor was paid a living wage the idea was to purchase quality items that were preferably American made. As labor wages failed to keep up with the rate of inflation, the desire for cheaper goods took precedence over quality. Goods began to be manufactured in countries with wages that are something we could never imagine. Everyone is aware that wages have not kept pace with rate of inflation and the poverty rate has not been adjusted since the 70's. For this reason our search for quality has disintegrated into a search for items that are disposable but have the look of quality thus giving us the idea that somehow we are not part of an underclass. In reality we should be demanding an accurate living wage to offset the abuse of labor.
Great point, except H&M clothing certainly does not have the look of quality. I actually bought a few t shirts there to wear to work (just something plain and cheap) - and you should see the color of them now compared to when I purchased them.
Well I never bought them because they looked high quality. I just needed work shirts I didn't care about. They just went from, normal looking t shirt to faded crap t shirt. The wages of those in these third world countries will not change as long as people buy these clothes.
Thus proving my point. If the t-shirts looked at the time of purchase as they do now surely you would not have purchased them. Apparently at the time of purchase they had some semblance of higher quality. If, however individuals were paid a living wage the "semblance" of quality would be replaced with an actual higher level of quality.
Caitlyn- I disagree..... of course labor will have to stand up first...but who am I kidding....we can barely get labor to stand up in America....
Makki-hence wage rates continue to plummet, labor is exploited and the middle class disappears. Short enough for you? ;)
I m just going to assume you're triggered by this post and think we should be more considerate and aware of others/things because I m far too lazy to read your giant paragraph
Corporate greed? It is us consumer who are part of the problem. If we would wonder how products can be ridiculously cheap, if we would ask shops if the supply chain of products is known, if we were willing to pay a little more for "fair trade" and similar concepts, and if we would exercise abdiction just occasionally, much would change!
THANK YOU. agree one thousand percent. Supply comes from demand. H&M has VERY affordable 'trendy' clothes that people buy constantly. All it takes is looking at the tag and the quality of the clothing to know that it wasn't produced in a wholesome manner
Interestingly, the same brand may even provide alternatives. I know H&M for example has baby clothes with organic cotton and sustainably sourced...
Flower Child, if the people working in these factories made a living wage, H&M would find someone else to manufacturer their crap clothes because they are aiming for the cheapest cost possible.
Indeed, supply does come from demand but what drives demand; income levels. What controls income levels; labor. Truth be told if labor demanded a living wage stores like H&M/Forever 21 would have to up the quality of their merchandise, agribusiness would be forced to improve the quality of food, the quality of health care would improve etc, etc.
One point to make is now that corporation have bought out the label of "organic", and "fair trade" these stupid words mean nothing. Unfortunately I have no clue how to fix the mess the modern world has gotten itself into. I only remember the days when you bought you used, and used, and used, and so on. I remember has a kid when you purchased something for a relative price to the usefulness and utility for which it would last. Now we all, AND I mean ALL of us have no choice other than to change our way of life to the point of utter insanity to go back from which we came.
i completely agree with this campaign, no child should be made to work in a factory at that age. but no parent would willingly send their child to do that, these people have no choice. if you stop the kids from working, then you are contributing to the poverty problem because what those children earn may be the only income their family gets. this is why fair trade and charities which pay families to send their kids to school are so important.
It's so complicated. Even "fair trade" is really murky once you dig into what it really is and who does and doesn't benefit. I'm just glad that people like you recognize that things aren't one sided and simple.
Full Name-you are so right in that it is complicated. Labor is completely undervalued.
Thanks. I am 12 but i have a gcse in environmental management and we were learning about this stuff.
Tiger- 100% correct! Global poverty is a huge issue. I agree with the argument regarding choice but the use of children in this manner has been a global problem for decades...actually we can see this in the USA as well.
im also tiger213
As a nation we have become accustomed to getting goods as cheaply as possible. Of course this leads to the abuse of the laborers who create or harvest these goods. When labor was paid a living wage the idea was to purchase quality items that were preferably American made. As labor wages failed to keep up with the rate of inflation, the desire for cheaper goods took precedence over quality. Goods began to be manufactured in countries with wages that are something we could never imagine. Everyone is aware that wages have not kept pace with rate of inflation and the poverty rate has not been adjusted since the 70's. For this reason our search for quality has disintegrated into a search for items that are disposable but have the look of quality thus giving us the idea that somehow we are not part of an underclass. In reality we should be demanding an accurate living wage to offset the abuse of labor.
Great point, except H&M clothing certainly does not have the look of quality. I actually bought a few t shirts there to wear to work (just something plain and cheap) - and you should see the color of them now compared to when I purchased them.
Well I never bought them because they looked high quality. I just needed work shirts I didn't care about. They just went from, normal looking t shirt to faded crap t shirt. The wages of those in these third world countries will not change as long as people buy these clothes.
Thus proving my point. If the t-shirts looked at the time of purchase as they do now surely you would not have purchased them. Apparently at the time of purchase they had some semblance of higher quality. If, however individuals were paid a living wage the "semblance" of quality would be replaced with an actual higher level of quality.
Caitlyn- I disagree..... of course labor will have to stand up first...but who am I kidding....we can barely get labor to stand up in America....
Makki-hence wage rates continue to plummet, labor is exploited and the middle class disappears. Short enough for you? ;)
I m just going to assume you're triggered by this post and think we should be more considerate and aware of others/things because I m far too lazy to read your giant paragraph
Corporate greed? It is us consumer who are part of the problem. If we would wonder how products can be ridiculously cheap, if we would ask shops if the supply chain of products is known, if we were willing to pay a little more for "fair trade" and similar concepts, and if we would exercise abdiction just occasionally, much would change!
THANK YOU. agree one thousand percent. Supply comes from demand. H&M has VERY affordable 'trendy' clothes that people buy constantly. All it takes is looking at the tag and the quality of the clothing to know that it wasn't produced in a wholesome manner
Interestingly, the same brand may even provide alternatives. I know H&M for example has baby clothes with organic cotton and sustainably sourced...
Flower Child, if the people working in these factories made a living wage, H&M would find someone else to manufacturer their crap clothes because they are aiming for the cheapest cost possible.
Indeed, supply does come from demand but what drives demand; income levels. What controls income levels; labor. Truth be told if labor demanded a living wage stores like H&M/Forever 21 would have to up the quality of their merchandise, agribusiness would be forced to improve the quality of food, the quality of health care would improve etc, etc.
One point to make is now that corporation have bought out the label of "organic", and "fair trade" these stupid words mean nothing. Unfortunately I have no clue how to fix the mess the modern world has gotten itself into. I only remember the days when you bought you used, and used, and used, and so on. I remember has a kid when you purchased something for a relative price to the usefulness and utility for which it would last. Now we all, AND I mean ALL of us have no choice other than to change our way of life to the point of utter insanity to go back from which we came.
i completely agree with this campaign, no child should be made to work in a factory at that age. but no parent would willingly send their child to do that, these people have no choice. if you stop the kids from working, then you are contributing to the poverty problem because what those children earn may be the only income their family gets. this is why fair trade and charities which pay families to send their kids to school are so important.
It's so complicated. Even "fair trade" is really murky once you dig into what it really is and who does and doesn't benefit. I'm just glad that people like you recognize that things aren't one sided and simple.
Full Name-you are so right in that it is complicated. Labor is completely undervalued.
Thanks. I am 12 but i have a gcse in environmental management and we were learning about this stuff.
Tiger- 100% correct! Global poverty is a huge issue. I agree with the argument regarding choice but the use of children in this manner has been a global problem for decades...actually we can see this in the USA as well.
im also tiger213