When capitolizm catches up with your wardrobe

This week there was a stunning tragedy in Bangladesh, that's killed over 200 people.  Full story here Huff Post Story but basically a factory that produced Joe Fresh Apparel collapsed while workers were inside and the results were devastating.

While reading through the posts, I came across this one:

As a former product developer at joe fresh I can tell you that the product developer has no idea what factory the garments will be produced in. They only know the country of origin. They work with large agents (like Li & Fung for example) who choose the factory to make the style for joe fresh product. The buyer at Loblaws, also does not know what factory the goods are being made in.


They are not responsible for choosing the factory, but they do negotiate the cost. And the cost is low. It has to be to compete with Walmart. A factory in Bangladesh often makes no profit on a style...but produces it to keep the factory/workers working.

Think about it next time you buy a $7 t-shirt...the cost of buying the cotton, cost of knitting cotton yarn into jersey, washing the fabric, dyeing the fabric, washing it again,cutting the fabric, bundling it, sewing it, trimming it, labelling it, ticketing it, pressing it, packing it, shipping from Bangladesh to north america, transporting it via train to a warehouse, allocating and shipping it to a retail centre ....that's a lot of labour for a $7 t-shirt that has to make at least 60 point profit. Do you think your $7 t-shirt was made in a clean, spacious, state of the art factory ? No. But then you probably don't care about the workers in a hot, filthy, dangerous, cramped, old factory....

This isn't news to anyone, not really.  We all know that there's no magic factory serving fresh fruit and hot meals in the cafeteria while producing these ridiculously cheap clothes.  We (and I mean me here) turn a blind eye to the reality of consumerism so that we can have a plethora of brightly coloured t-shirts and yoga wear for the new season, all the time, ignoring the costs.

Everyone likes to blame Wal-Mart.  They're an easy target (oh yes, and Target too) as they're the ones applying pressure to the manufacturers to constantly reduce (ROLL BACK) prices.   Hell, I work on a committee at work that is focusing on finding ways to save money, reduce costs, improve processes.  It's how the world works, but once in a while, the price is paid.  Not by the North American consumer but by the poor and disenfranchised in a Third World Country.

As a person who has previously sourced product from overseas, I know what it's like.  I know the pressure from the company to "maximize the gross profit on the item".  I know that the buyer isn't THERE in the factory, inspecting the footings of the building and ensuring the workers are safe.  They rely on the systems and rules in place.  Obviously it's some one's responsibility, but who?  The consumer?  The buyer?  The head of Joe Fresh?  There's obvious areas for improvement, but where to start?

I don't know ... will I continue to feed the monster with my hard earned dollars for cheap shirts or find a way to buy local (and a LOT less).