I have also been developing my studio work and am finally catching up I think! My sketchbook is filling up and I have the challenge of trying printing this week since I switched from knit, not a clue what I am doing!
Sunday 24 October 2010
Reading week!
Over reading week my group met up to discuss our dissertation topics. Initially I had decided to choose a different topic to our last assignment but after discussing ethical labour I have changed my mind and am going to stick with it. We started a mind map each which I have developed a bit further:
I have also been developing my studio work and am finally catching up I think! My sketchbook is filling up and I have the challenge of trying printing this week since I switched from knit, not a clue what I am doing!
I have also been developing my studio work and am finally catching up I think! My sketchbook is filling up and I have the challenge of trying printing this week since I switched from knit, not a clue what I am doing!
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Boats & Masts
Unfortunately I have been out of the studio and in bed sick for what feels like forever so I am miles behind with my current project! So now is the time to crack on with it.
I have decided to design prints based on architecture and structure, looking at various harbours and small fishing villages. I went on a trip to Elgin to take photos and draw and have become a bit obsessed with drawing masts and houses!
I think the next step is to continue source drawing and developing, I don't think I am going to have time to print anything on fabric unfortunately.
I have decided to design prints based on architecture and structure, looking at various harbours and small fishing villages. I went on a trip to Elgin to take photos and draw and have become a bit obsessed with drawing masts and houses!
I think the next step is to continue source drawing and developing, I don't think I am going to have time to print anything on fabric unfortunately.
Thursday 7 October 2010
Ethical Labour and Design
Ethical Labour & Design
Sarah Stewart
Level Three Textiles
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art
The clothing industry employs a sixth of the population worldwide. I have chosen to look specifically at ethical labour and design in a textile context by looking at where our clothing is made and working conditions for garment workers. After watching China Blue and reading books like ‘Eco Chic’ I have learned that people are working in dangerous environments, are underpaid and working extreme hours to keep up with the current ‘fast fashion’ trend in Western countries. Fashion used to work in two seasons, now some retailers have up to fifteen. This means that we demand more clothing. I have looked at how major retailers demand extremely low prices from factories, which is the main cause for such poor working conditions.
“For each 100 garments we put together we get $0.05” – garment worker in Nicaragua (Lee, 2007)
During the industrial revolution child labour and bad working conditions became common in the UK. This has now moved overseas. Three quarters of Western clothing is made abroad as it is cheaper to produce and our consumer culture can be maintained at the cost of poor lifestyles for individuals in other countries. For example, Burberry recently shut two factories in Wales and Yorkshire and moved them to China to lower costs (they could get 600,000 polo shirts made for £4 a piece in China instead of £11 in the UK). China is extremely competitive in the textile industry as it has such a fast production rate due to people working up to 150 hours of overtime per month. Unfortunately nine out of ten companies in China do not follow labour laws and it is up to retailers to look at how their workers are treated. Some companies commit to a ‘code of conduct’ but they are often broken.
‘China Blue’ (2005) is a documentary film about the life of Jasmine Lee, a worker in Lifeng factory in China, which produces denim clothing. The main priority of the factory is to meet deadlines set by the companies they work for as if they do not they will lose orders and customer interest. Shifts are from 8am-7pm with overtime most nights. The workers are underpaid and taught to lie to inspectors about their working conditions. Retailers pressurise the factory owner to give them lower prices on the clothing, and to meet these demands the workers have to work (often unpaid) overtime.
In the mid nineties audits were introduced to monitor conditions in some of the factories. These involve reviewing documents, site inspection and interviews with staff. However interviews with workers in different factories show that companies were given up to twenty days notice and had their factories cleaned and paper work faked for the inspectors coming (Alam, 2006).
The Spectrum Disaster in Bangladesh in 2005 is the perfect example of audits not working. It was a nine storied factory without planning permission with terrible working conditions and people working for less than minimum wage. It collapsed shortly after being audited, killing 64 workers and injuring 80. In February 2010 a similar event occurred again in Bangladesh, showing that conditions have not improved.
An article by War on Want (Fashion Victims 2006) looks at factories in Bangladesh producing clothing for three budget retailers– Tesco, Asda and Primark. These companies agreed to this code:
“Workers shall not on a regular basis be required to work in excess of 48 hours per week and shall be provided with at least one day off for every 7 day period on average. Overtime shall be voluntary, shall not exceed 12 hours per week, shall not be demanded on a regular basis and shall always be compensated at a premium rate” (Alam, 2006)
The report shows how the rules they have promised to follow are constantly violated and highlights how voluntary codes of conduct do not work. Most workers across the six factories investigated work 12-16 hours per day, seven days a week. There is a preference to female workers (3/4 of the workers in the factories were female) as they are easier to exploit, they are afraid to speak out about problems in the work place.
The follow up report (Fashion Victims 2008) shows that conditions have only worsened. ‘Fast Fashion’ is ever increasing and so is the pressure on factories.
Workers still do not earn a living wage (defined as ‘a wage sufficient for a worker and family to subsist comfortably’) and working conditions are still terrible. In 2007 a new government took over and banned Trade Unions, allowing the police and factory management to work together to stop labour protests. There are no regulations for the Bangladeshi garment industry and subsequently most workers do not have contracts, allowing companies to refuse sick pay, maternity leave and redundancy pay.
When it comes to ethical design, textile design is a very important aspect. The globalised economy means that the clothing industry has mostly moved overseas. We are demanding so much with such tight deadlines that companies use suppliers and produces in a long ‘supply chain’ to get the lowest prices possible for the production of their products and a high percentage of it is made in sweatshops with poor working conditions. As a textile designer it is important to think about finding ways to source ethical materials and labour.
It is up to retailers and designers to source their products ethically. ‘Eco-chic’ is becoming a big thing and there are a lot of websites and shops which try to source all of their products ethically. As a textile designer this topic is particularly interesting to me and it is important to consider design ethics within personal working practices.
Consumers also need to feel reassured that their purchases have been fairly sourced. In shops at present there is very little information about this despite social audits being carried out in factories overseas. Looking at the supply chain for many retailers it is difficult for consumers to find out where their product has originated. It has been shown that 85% of people do not want clothing from sweatshops and 90% do not want clothing made using child labour (Lee, 2007). Therefore it should be made easier for consumers to find information about where their product was sourced and who made it so that they can make a conscious decision about what they are buying.
It is interesting to look at what is happening right now on this topic. There are many groups trying to help the situation; War on Want, The Maquila Solidarity Network, Multi Stakeholder Initiatives (MSI) for example. The UK government is currently promoting MSI’s as the solution to the problem. Committing to one for a company means to agree to follow a code of conduct concerning ethical labour. Since reputation is so important to retailers to keep sales up and customers happy, it looks good for them to be involved with MSI’s. Otherwise they have to defend where they source their materials and labour. There have been many companies highlighted for poor working conditions in recent years and this can affect their reputation. For example there have been ‘Panorama’ episodes about Nike, Gap and Primark showing unethical labour practices.
The next step for designers and retailers in my opinion is to do research into the problem, provide more information for consumers through labelling and marketing of an ethical brand and to continue campaigning for ethical working practices.
Lee, M. 2007. Eco Chic: The Savvy Shoppers Guide to Ethical Fashion. Gaia Books Ltd, London
Alam, K. 2006. Fashion Victims, War on Want. Available at http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/love-fashion-hate-sweatshops/fashion-victims/inform/13593-fashion-victims
Alam, K. 2008. Fashion Victims 2, War on Want. Available at http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/love-fashion-hate-sweatshops/fashion-victims/inform/16360-fashion-victims-ii
China Blue. 2005 [documentary film] Micha Peled. China: Teddy Bear Films,
International Labour Organisation. 2010. Facts on Child Labour 2010. Available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126685.pdf
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/
http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org
Sarah Stewart
Level Three Textiles
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art
The clothing industry employs a sixth of the population worldwide. I have chosen to look specifically at ethical labour and design in a textile context by looking at where our clothing is made and working conditions for garment workers. After watching China Blue and reading books like ‘Eco Chic’ I have learned that people are working in dangerous environments, are underpaid and working extreme hours to keep up with the current ‘fast fashion’ trend in Western countries. Fashion used to work in two seasons, now some retailers have up to fifteen. This means that we demand more clothing. I have looked at how major retailers demand extremely low prices from factories, which is the main cause for such poor working conditions.
“For each 100 garments we put together we get $0.05” – garment worker in Nicaragua (Lee, 2007)
During the industrial revolution child labour and bad working conditions became common in the UK. This has now moved overseas. Three quarters of Western clothing is made abroad as it is cheaper to produce and our consumer culture can be maintained at the cost of poor lifestyles for individuals in other countries. For example, Burberry recently shut two factories in Wales and Yorkshire and moved them to China to lower costs (they could get 600,000 polo shirts made for £4 a piece in China instead of £11 in the UK). China is extremely competitive in the textile industry as it has such a fast production rate due to people working up to 150 hours of overtime per month. Unfortunately nine out of ten companies in China do not follow labour laws and it is up to retailers to look at how their workers are treated. Some companies commit to a ‘code of conduct’ but they are often broken.
‘China Blue’ (2005) is a documentary film about the life of Jasmine Lee, a worker in Lifeng factory in China, which produces denim clothing. The main priority of the factory is to meet deadlines set by the companies they work for as if they do not they will lose orders and customer interest. Shifts are from 8am-7pm with overtime most nights. The workers are underpaid and taught to lie to inspectors about their working conditions. Retailers pressurise the factory owner to give them lower prices on the clothing, and to meet these demands the workers have to work (often unpaid) overtime.
In the mid nineties audits were introduced to monitor conditions in some of the factories. These involve reviewing documents, site inspection and interviews with staff. However interviews with workers in different factories show that companies were given up to twenty days notice and had their factories cleaned and paper work faked for the inspectors coming (Alam, 2006).
The Spectrum Disaster in Bangladesh in 2005 is the perfect example of audits not working. It was a nine storied factory without planning permission with terrible working conditions and people working for less than minimum wage. It collapsed shortly after being audited, killing 64 workers and injuring 80. In February 2010 a similar event occurred again in Bangladesh, showing that conditions have not improved.
An article by War on Want (Fashion Victims 2006) looks at factories in Bangladesh producing clothing for three budget retailers– Tesco, Asda and Primark. These companies agreed to this code:
“Workers shall not on a regular basis be required to work in excess of 48 hours per week and shall be provided with at least one day off for every 7 day period on average. Overtime shall be voluntary, shall not exceed 12 hours per week, shall not be demanded on a regular basis and shall always be compensated at a premium rate” (Alam, 2006)
The report shows how the rules they have promised to follow are constantly violated and highlights how voluntary codes of conduct do not work. Most workers across the six factories investigated work 12-16 hours per day, seven days a week. There is a preference to female workers (3/4 of the workers in the factories were female) as they are easier to exploit, they are afraid to speak out about problems in the work place.
The follow up report (Fashion Victims 2008) shows that conditions have only worsened. ‘Fast Fashion’ is ever increasing and so is the pressure on factories.
Workers still do not earn a living wage (defined as ‘a wage sufficient for a worker and family to subsist comfortably’) and working conditions are still terrible. In 2007 a new government took over and banned Trade Unions, allowing the police and factory management to work together to stop labour protests. There are no regulations for the Bangladeshi garment industry and subsequently most workers do not have contracts, allowing companies to refuse sick pay, maternity leave and redundancy pay.
When it comes to ethical design, textile design is a very important aspect. The globalised economy means that the clothing industry has mostly moved overseas. We are demanding so much with such tight deadlines that companies use suppliers and produces in a long ‘supply chain’ to get the lowest prices possible for the production of their products and a high percentage of it is made in sweatshops with poor working conditions. As a textile designer it is important to think about finding ways to source ethical materials and labour.
It is up to retailers and designers to source their products ethically. ‘Eco-chic’ is becoming a big thing and there are a lot of websites and shops which try to source all of their products ethically. As a textile designer this topic is particularly interesting to me and it is important to consider design ethics within personal working practices.
Consumers also need to feel reassured that their purchases have been fairly sourced. In shops at present there is very little information about this despite social audits being carried out in factories overseas. Looking at the supply chain for many retailers it is difficult for consumers to find out where their product has originated. It has been shown that 85% of people do not want clothing from sweatshops and 90% do not want clothing made using child labour (Lee, 2007). Therefore it should be made easier for consumers to find information about where their product was sourced and who made it so that they can make a conscious decision about what they are buying.
It is interesting to look at what is happening right now on this topic. There are many groups trying to help the situation; War on Want, The Maquila Solidarity Network, Multi Stakeholder Initiatives (MSI) for example. The UK government is currently promoting MSI’s as the solution to the problem. Committing to one for a company means to agree to follow a code of conduct concerning ethical labour. Since reputation is so important to retailers to keep sales up and customers happy, it looks good for them to be involved with MSI’s. Otherwise they have to defend where they source their materials and labour. There have been many companies highlighted for poor working conditions in recent years and this can affect their reputation. For example there have been ‘Panorama’ episodes about Nike, Gap and Primark showing unethical labour practices.
The next step for designers and retailers in my opinion is to do research into the problem, provide more information for consumers through labelling and marketing of an ethical brand and to continue campaigning for ethical working practices.
Lee, M. 2007. Eco Chic: The Savvy Shoppers Guide to Ethical Fashion. Gaia Books Ltd, London
Alam, K. 2006. Fashion Victims, War on Want. Available at http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/love-fashion-hate-sweatshops/fashion-victims/inform/13593-fashion-victims
Alam, K. 2008. Fashion Victims 2, War on Want. Available at http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/love-fashion-hate-sweatshops/fashion-victims/inform/16360-fashion-victims-ii
China Blue. 2005 [documentary film] Micha Peled. China: Teddy Bear Films,
International Labour Organisation. 2010. Facts on Child Labour 2010. Available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126685.pdf
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/
http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org
Monday 4 October 2010
"How could there ever really be a place for ethics in an industry dominated by aesthetics?"
This is my mind map for my topic so far.
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