In a story titled “Out of a tragedy, socially responsible fashion”, CNN opens with a question: “Who are you wearing?
CNN ran the story on the two-year anniversary of the deadly Bangladeshi clothing factory collapse or what is widely known as Rana Plaza tragedy, on Friday.
“A coalition of socially responsible companies and activists are asking people to post their shirt tag photo on social media using #whomademyclothes,” the portal of the US TV network wrote.
“It should be a simple questions to answer,” Maxine Bédat, a campaign organiser and co-founder of the online retailer Zady, was quoted to have said. “But the fact is, many brands don’t know.”
According to CNN Even after the Rana Plaza disaster — which killed over 1,100 people — Bédat said many clothing companies still outsource production to factories that pay too little, pollute too much, and put too many people at risk.
“They area called shadow factories,” she reportedly said, explaining that the clothing brand may sign a contract with one factory, which it audits, but then that factory outsources the work elsewhere. “They have to do that to produce at the cost and the speed they are being asked to.”
Borrowing from the Slow Food movement — which is supposed to be everything fast food is not — Bédat and others are part of what’s becoming known as ‘slow fashion’, the CNN report mentioned.
“They aim to make clothes from sustainably produced fibers, cut and sewn in safe, clean factories, and made by people paid a living wage,” it noted.
While the clothes may be more expensive to buy, Bédat said clothes like this are better made and therefore last much longer, the report said.
It added that the goal of Friday’s campaign — known as Fashion Revolution Day — is to both get people thinking about where their clothes come from and to show major clothing companies that the public cares.
Source: Prothom-Alo
