The below info graphic breaking down the costs behind a $14 shirt is from 2011.
Does $0.12 for the labour and work that went into making it seem adequate to you?
What do you suppose the cost breakdown behind the $5 shirts of today is?
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.
Mind boggling isn’t it? I just now uploaded a post of my own called the true cost of fast fashion. Great minds think alike. 🙂 Honestly, some days I wish it was still the 70s or 80s.
Unfortunately the unethical treatment of garment workers has been happening since mass produced clothing was invented. Outsourcing the piecework to factories in poor countries began in the mid-1970’s and from there unethically produced “fast fashion” truly began and had completely changed how the general public shopped for clothing by the 1990’s. The rise of the internet has finally given garment worker rights activists an open, worldwide platform to spread the ethical/sustainable fashion message and educate the buying public about just how and by whom fast fashion is made and the actual costs involved behind their throwaway-and-buy-more clothing & accessories.
I have devoted an entire section of my blog to this topic including documentaries, articles, stats and tips about how to shop ethically & sustainably: https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/ethicalfashioninfo/
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.
Very Interesting!
and very sad – I wish more people would wake up and realize that cheap fast fashion simply cannot be ethically produced and start thinking about the people behind the garments and accessories they buy, toss and replace at bargain prices 🙁