Articles, Social - Thursday, July 31, 2008 16:59 - 0 Comments

Praising the beauty of the world: Rising awareness for better clothing production

Florence Palpacuer, Prof. of Management Studies

Over the last 20 years, the way clothes are made and sold has changed dramatically.

Production shifted from local to global manufacturing with almost no clothing or sporting goods produced in the countries where they are to be sold. Materials for a pair of jeans, for instance, typically travel 30,000 km before reaching a store!

The environmental cost is huge, transportation being one of the main sectors of energy consumption. The human toll is enormous. “Made in China,” “Made in India,” or Made in Turkey,” are some labels we see on the product.

These clothes are often made by young women, 16-25 years old, most of them working in Export Processing Zones (EPZ) where product components (fabric, yarn, buttons for clothing, but also chips and frames for computers, or pretty much any component for light, non-perishable consumer goods) are sent to be manually assembled under the cheapest possible conditions, before being sent back to be sold in foreign markets. Continue…