The Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance awareness and support for fair trade in Canada. The CFTN recently commissioned creative agency ReThink Canada with the task of designing a series of images to draw attention to the people around the world working tirelessly in unsafe conditions for less than a living wage. Their absolutely brilliant idea was to add the real stories of the garment workers behind the clothing to the tags:
Take a closer look and read the honest tags below:
This hoodie tag reads: “100% cotton. Made in Sierra Leone by Tejan. The first few times he coughed up blood he hid it from his family. They couldn’t afford medical treatment and he couldn’t risk losing his long-time job at the cotton plantation. When he fell into a seizure one day it could no longer be ignored. The diagnosis was pesticide poisoning. The lack of proper protective clothing has left him with leukemia at the age of 34. He has two daughters. One of them starts work at the factory next year. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.”
This blazer tag reads: “100% cotton. Made in Bangladesh by Joya who left school at the age of twelve to help support her two brothers and newly widowed mother. Her father was killed when a fire ripped through the cotton factory where he worked. She now works in the building across the street from the burned down factory. A constant reminder of the risk she takes everyday. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.”
This sweater tag reads: “100% cotton. Made in Cambodia by Behnly, nine years old. He gets up at 5:00 am every morning to make his way to the garment factory where he works. It will be dark when he arrives and dark when he leaves. He dresses lightly because the temperature in the room he works reaches 30 degrees. The dust in the room fills his nose and mouth. He will make less than a dollar, for a day spent slowly suffocating. A mask would cost the company ten cents. The label doesn’t tell the whole story.”
Are you still making excuses and supporting unethically produced fast fashion? If so, have a read of my Devil’s Advocate of unethical fashion post and finally step away from it for good.
Disclaimer: I am not at all an expert on the big business of fast fashion however I am a concerned consumer who has chosen to learn & share as much as I can through my own personal experiences & the wealth of resources available online.
This is such a great idea, thank you for sharing.
Just imagine if unethical brands actually had to provide these kinds of tags – their profits would most certainly suffer if consumers could no longer so easily disregard the people who make the cheap clothing they so eagerly buy & toss and buy & toss..
Exactly, but that’s what we need for change to happen. I think this would just end up being a publicity stunt though which would quickly lose its meaning. Still I’m so glad people are thinking about the issue
Too true! H&M is the master of the publicity spin and sadly their empty promises and slick advertsing campaigns fool far too many consumers into thrinking that they are actually a “conscious” company. 🙁
The Fair Wear Foundation has a list of brands that are regularly checked and meet their labour, wage and working conditions standards, get more info here: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/02/13/fair-wear-foundation/
The Clean Clothes Campaign is another organization that provides lots of info and searchable resources about the working conditions behind fashion companies: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2015/02/20/the-clean-clothes-campaign/