Can Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones Help Stop Sweatshop Abuses?

*ATTENTION*

I just recieved this email from the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights

-->Posh clothing retailers across Europe, Australia and Canada allow prison-like conditions at their Chinese-owned supplier factories, Rosita and Megatex, in Bangladesh.

The 5,000 Bangladeshi workers at the Rosita and Megatex sweatshops face routine sexual harassment, beatings, corporal punishment, mass firings and imprisonment under false charges. Workers are cheated of their wages and paid as little as 16 cents an hour. The report will provide you with the documentation.

Corporate codes of conduct continue to fail miserably.

One of the high end clothing retailers is the Dressmann/Varner Group in Norway, which has signed a deal with Mick Jagger and other band members to design a clothing line inspired by the Rolling Stones music.

It does not have to be this way. With the help of Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones, the Dressmann/Varner Group and the other high-end retailers, including BHS/Arcadia Group in the United Kingdom, Peek&Cloppenburg in Germany, Celio in France, de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands and the Wesfarmers Group in Australia, we can put an end to the gross violations of worker rights at the Rosita and Megatex factories. Together we can bring these factories into compliance with all Bangladeshi labor laws and with the ILO’s core internationally recognized worker rights standards, including the right to organize. The first step should be a meeting in Bangladesh with the retailers, the workers and the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

This is not too much to ask.

Please send a brief personal note to the retailers urging them to send senior management representatives to Bangladesh to meet with the workers and the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights in order to guarantee that Bangladeshi labor laws and the ILO worker rights standards are finally respected.


------------Model Message--------------
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I am shocked and disturbed to learn that sweaters sold at [INSERT COMPANY/LABEL NAME] are being made under gross and illegal conditions at the Chinese-owned Rosita and Megatex factories in Bangladesh. The 5,000 Bangladeshi workers at the Rosita and Megatex sweatshops face routine sexual harassment, beatings, corporal punishment, mass firings, death threats and imprisonment under false charges. Workers are cheated of their wages and paid as little as 16 cents an hour.

I urge you to immediately end the abusive and illegal sweatshop conditions at your supplier’s factories, Rosita and Megatex in Bangladesh. Please send senior management representatives to Bangladesh to meet with the workers and the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights in order to guarantee that Bangladeshi labor laws and the core International Labor Organization worker rights standards are finally respected.

Sincerely, 'X'

-->Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
(formerly National Labor Committee)
5 Gateway Center, 6th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, U.S.A.
Office +1 412.562.2406 | Fax +1 412.562.2411
inbox@glhr.org | www.globallabourrights.org | Unsubscribe

Be original and think before you throw.

Do you want a more ethical wardrobe? but can't seem to find any 'ethically made' clothes that reflect your style or your wallet, well have you thought about remaking clothes you already have?

Instead of throwing old clothes away you could re-fashion them and give them a new lease of life. Want a new jumper? then dig deep into your wardrobe and find one you already have and give it a new cut? colour? or design?

Would you consider doing this? or does the thought of a pair of scissors and your favourite jeans in one hand bring on a sweat? Well, you don't have to worry about ruining clothes by re-fashioning them yourselves. Traid are running workshops that you can join and learn how to embelish/cut and redesign old clothes. It's a good way to reduce landfill, shrink the carbon footprint and cut down on the use of new materials. Plus you get bask in the glory of knowing nobody will be wearing the same clothes as you!

So think before you throw and head down to Traid now. They are running FREE workshops that take place the second Thursday of every month, 6pm and 9pm at Traid Camden, 154 Camden High Road, London NW1 0NE. Book your place by emailing sewgood@traid.org.uk

Naitika Conference Highlights

Well done to all who took part!

Video created by- Anna Colom and Blossom Carrasco 

Do you dress ugly?

I was reading my daily newspaper –The Metro (Excuse- I left my classical novel at home) and came across an article about Vivienne Westwood and how she thought Fast Fashion had left people looking ugly.

Here is an excerpt from the article...

Launching her new collection at London Fashion Week, the designer said: ‘People have never looked so ugly as they do today, regarding their dress. ‘We are so conformist, nobody is thinking. We are all sucking up stuff, we have been trained to be consumers and we are all consuming far too much. Westwood, who recently admitted she doesn’t like some clothes sold in her own shops, said fashion followers should buy less and choose more carefully to avoid looking like ‘clones’.

On this blog we have always said consumers need to buy carefully and to not over indulge in cheap fashion as this has a knock-on effect on garment workers and the environment, but I hadn’t thought about how cheap fashion makes us look.

Do you think cheap fashion has left us looking like ugly clones?

Fashion fights for freedom!

One of the highlights of Delhi Fashion Week, Autumn Winter 2012, was the Fashion Design Council of India’s (FDCI) special show. Each year the FDCI takes on a cause as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility and this season the spotlight fell on an organisation fighting human trafficking of women: Youcanfree.us

Twelve of India’s leading designers including Manish Arora, Tarun Tahliani, Ashish N Soni and Ritu Beri, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, all lent their support by getting involved in a film documenting human trafficking and by participating in the show to a packed and enthusiastic audience. At a time when the world’s media is focussed on India, the FDCI bravely and elegantly managed to tie fashion with social responsibility. As far as I am aware no other international high profile fashion week gives up an expensive official time slot to a social cause and this is to be lauded.

Youcanfree.us is an international non-profit organisation that rescues and provides pro-active support to women forced into prostitution and kept in extremely inhumane conditions, even cages. They provide healthcare, legal advice and rehabilitation. Sujo John, of Indian origin: 'It is heartbreaking to see the lives of women who are victims of human trafficking. When celebrated individuals from various walks of life - fashion, sport, film and society, come together to raise awareness for these atrocities, it does help tremendously, giving hope and we can begin to rewrite their stories together!'

Sunil Sethi, President of the FDCI “We at FDCI, along with the designers, constantly endeavour to work towards the betterment of the society. In the past we have supported causes like breast cancer awareness, support for the girl child and campaign against child labour. This year we are happy to lend the WIFW platform to 'YouCanFree.Us' in their drive against human trafficking."

The film and fashion show was accompanied by a photography exhibition by Subi Samuel, a leading Bollywood photographer.

Article written by:

Shazia Saleem

Fashion designer

www.shaziasaleem.com

Image Credit- Shazia Saleem