As consumers, we're bombarded relentlessly with tantalizing offers. Nowhere is this more true than on the high street with it's seemingly endless array of affordable and in some instances downright cheap fashion fixes. Who could resist? In the past few years however, a greater level of consciousness has crept into the minds of more informed fashion consumers and we're asking more and more questions about where our fashions were produced and under what circumstances. Readers of The Luxe Chronicles are probably familiar with my own views on this issue, especially where the luxury industry is concerned. While media reports linking Western brands to child labor and wretched work conditions in developing countries raise awareness, they don't always tell the whole story. A recent article in Time magazine entitled Manufacturing: The Burden of Good Intentions which examines the complexities faced by Western multinationals when manufacturing in overseas markets has caused me to re-examine some long held beliefs about ethics in fashion. The journalist who penned the article, Carla Power, graciously agreed to sit down with The Luxe Chronicles to discuss her impressions formed as a result of her experience researching and writing on this controversial topic. A summary of our discussion follows.
Photo by Ruth Fremson, courtesy of The New York Times.
1. Were you able to gain access easily to workers and factory owners? Were they open to talking to you or did you have to get creative?
I was surprised we were able to get the access we did in Delhi certainly. Also, many of the individual auditors and audit firms did not want to be mentioned by name or identified in any way which is to be expected. On the whole, I think we were lucky.
2. One of the most eye-opening part of your article for me was that factory owners and workers in developing countries actually consider compliance with Western labor practices as almost an anti-competitive tactic or a way to interfere with their competitive edge. Did that surprise you?
I was in fact surprised, absolutely. When I first started working on this piece, I had not thought much more about the issues involved than the average consumer but once I started to pull back the curtain a little bit, I realized very quickly that the issues were much more complex than I first thought. I actually first became interested in the topic after reading Ayesha Kahn's study on Pakistani factories for Business for Social Responsibility and the coaching of workers and elaborate systems in place to get around audit processes put in place by Western multinationals. To me, as a Western journalist and consumer, the existence of a sub-industry designed to pervert the audit system and get around it was certainly an eye-opener.
3. I sensed from your article that you came away from this assignment with a certain sympathy for Western companies who try to comply with labor standards but face much bigger obstacles than one would expect. Would that be an accurate statement?
This experience has certainly nuanced my thinking on the subject. There is a certain glibness in the western media's portrayal of the issue and in the minds of western consumers. One of the things that shocked me most is how global media with its instantaneousness can blunt our sense of the complexities of the issues faced by multinationals and local factory owners. For instance, an activist goes into a home or a factory and sees a small child stitching a soccer ball, takes a picture, takes it to the media who then blows the whistle. The image is transmitted virtually instantaneously around the world via various media outlets, the western company that sells the soccer ball panics, it becomes a PR issue. The typical reaction has been for the company to sever its ties with the local contractor or sub-contractor. It plays out in one news cycle then the story is over. Yet, nothing has actually been solved and we don't know much more about the issue than when we first started. While in an ideal world, small children shouldn't be stitching soccer balls, what are you supposed to do if his village or his entire region even doesn't have a school for him to go to? Or, if this child's family lives in such severe poverty that stitching a soccer ball is the only thing standing between him and hunger or homelessness? Media accounts rarely stop to highlight this aspect of the problem yet, it is in part circumstances like these that foster child labour in the first place.
I would also say that I have new found sympathy for companies such as Gap and Nike who through their own misadventures have taken a much more clear-eyed view. They know first-hand how difficult it is for factory owners to comply with labor standards crafted half way around the world by western multinationals and their lawyers and that don't necessarily take into account local realities. Instead of severing ties with their manufacturing partners at the first sign of trouble, both Gap and Nike to their credit have opted to stay and work with individual factory owners to improve conditions and implement changes. I increasingly see a parallel between the U.S. stance in Iraq and American multinationals conducting business in the developing world - in the same way that the U.S. government has awakened to the fact that you can't merely airdrop democracy in the Middle East and expect it to take root, certain multinationals have awakened to the fact that you can't necessarily airdrop western labor standards in a developing country and expect them to comply immediately. It takes time and a great deal of effort. The better multinationals have realized this and are working with local factory owners to implement changes.
On the other hand, I have little sympathy for multi-nationals who are content with the standard "tick-the-box" audit process , much of which has effectively been perverted by the local criminal element as described in my article for Time. From what consultants and auditors tell me, there are unfortunately plenty of Western companies perfectly happy to continue with this deeply flawed process mostly in order to please their shareholders despite knowing exactly what's going on.
4. Couldn't you argue though that when a corporation is devising its manufacturing and pricing strategy, the very fact that they opt to move their manufacturing operations to countries with either poor records of labor standards compliance or no labor standards at all, they can't possibly ignore the realities of these countries?
I think the advent of globalization has changed the way retailers, especially in the garment industry, compete with one another. Price has effectively become the driving force behind all of this. Also, the shortened lead time between manufacturing and distribution, the increased fashion cycle, sub-contracting, etc. All of these factors play a role. In a way, I've come away from this experience more sensitive to the role of government in adopting and implementing labor standards, something we tend to take for granted as westerners. In developing countries like China for instance, they've adopted new, tougher labor codes but it's very difficult for individual factories to meet the new labor restrictions and still make their deadlines and meet their production targets. I don't think industry can do it alone. It needs to be a partnership with local and state authorities. It also can't be achieved overnight. It takes time.
5. Do you think that the average consumer cares about overseas labor standards as long as they get their cheap high street fashion fix? I sometimes think we care for a few weeks following some media report of abuse but then are happy to move on without really understanding the problem.
I don't know whether or how much the average consumer actually cares about the issues. It's a difficult thing to measure. I'm sure if you ask a group of consumers whether they care if their t-shirt was made using child labor or underpaid labor, 99% of them would say "yes" and would condemn the practice but when confronted with cheap prices at the the cash register, I doubt they stop to make that calculation. This said, I think the potential for change certainly exists. Who would have thought even five years ago that people would now be discussing their carbon footprint at dinner parties? I think ethical living issues are starting to take hold and I suspect it may be a generational thing. I think people who grow up thinking about these issues from a young age are likely to approach the matter with a heightened awareness or sensitivity.
6. Do you make a distinction between a low-cost high street chain such as Gap and a luxury fashion brand where the profit margin is exponentially greater? In other words, do you think that luxury brands can better afford to comply with these standards and therefore should be held to a higher standard?
That's an interesting moral question. To me, if you start with the premise that fair labor practices are a universal human right, then it shouldn't really matter whether the goods manufactured are destined for the high street or for posh shopping districts. I would have to say however that there is definitely an added "yuck factor" if these exquisitely crafted goods that carry hefty price tags have morally questionable provenance. That's especially true given that many of these luxury brands are built around notions of tradition and craftsmanship. To me, having a luxury product manufactured under questionable circumstances seems incompatible with what the brand stands for or what luxury is supposed to stand for.
7. So, is it safe for my conscience to start shopping at Gap again?
Yes, I think so.
8. Thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk to us about your experience.
Not at all - my pleasure!
Carla Power is an American freelance journalist based in London. In addition to her numerous contributions to Time, her work has appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, Portfolio, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Marieclaire and Vogue. For a fresh perspective on the issue of manufacturing in developing countries, I urge you to read her article.
Sincerely,
The Luxe Chronicles
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