Who are you wearing?

An underage worker, someone severely injured or someone who has to work 19-hour days? 

Questions like this have come to light and have been asked more frequently than ever before since the Rana Plaza factory terror in Bangladesh in April which killed 1,113 workers. By looking at the horrifying images of the factory’s collapse, the world was left in utter shock. Moreover, it makes us question how can we allow ourselves to wear the clothes that are made in these very factories? High street brands for years have used this unethical approach to making our jeans that we slide on every day and our very own vest tops that we pop on. Yet, what are we doing about it?

This is not the first time consumers have been aware of something like this. However, since the deaths in Bangladesh, consumer’s eyes have been opened further. Previous to this incident November 2012 saw the awful fire which killed 112 at the Tazreen garment factory in Dhaka. But, Rana Plaza being the biggest so far and not even a year after the previous event, this has reminded us a little sooner than retailers expected or hoped for. So the question appears, in all the newspapers, in all of the high street brands board meetings, what is being done? It has been argued that we, as the consumer, should not be forced into the guilt and worry of buying clothes that are made in these awful conditions. Is it realistic that we would thoroughly research into which retailers are ethical, finding out whether their suppliers are workers who are being made to work in dangerous conditions? This for every consumer would be unrealistic. In an ideal world we should feel safe and guilt-free when going into a high street retailer. Hopefully soon we will.

Well, with the help of the shock tactics that has been displayed throughout the media to the public, something is finally being done. As of May 2013 the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was signed by a group of retailers and since has been signed by more. The Accord is a five-year agreement between retailers, labour organisations and non-governmental organisations to improve and maintain safety standards in the Bangladesh textile industry. In October this year, it was announced that 1,600 Bangladeshi factories were covered by the accord, this represents about a third of the Bangladeshi textile industry. This is a great start to move forward and make fast fashion ethical, but again, it’s something that needs to be pushed and maintained. This will hopefully protect all workers if maintained correctly. It shouldn’t take a mass catastrophe to remind us of whom we are actually wearing. If you care and you can, check your retailers. If you can’t, then when you see the next biggest headline on unethical fashion – read it. It may make you think; and hopefully this might make you care a bit more when buying your next piece of clothing.

WearWithCare

J