That’s a question I (and my friends) ask myself quite a lot. The whole clothing industry is so confusing, there are so many steps and different producers, deadlocks and fog around the topic, that it’s hard to buy something with the certainty that it and all parts of it have been produced under safe and fair conditions. Are you safe if you just spend more money on your clothes?
The sad truth is: no, you’re not. Everything that’s being sold on the High Street, no matter whether it’s Primark, Zara, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger or Nike, is produced under fair conditions. It doesn’t matter what they put on the label, all companies produce in the same factories. Just remember the horrible burning factories a few years ago – the retailers that were producing there came from all areas of the price range.
Does that mean there’s no hope anyway? We can just save money and go to Primark since it’s all the same anyway? That’s not what I’m trying to say. Because if people continue to shop at Primark (or other really cheap companies, Primark is just always the first one that comes to mind) that puts further pressure on the market and the price. In return, other companies will try to put down their prices even further. And I’m almost certain they won’t save with their own profits but with the workers wages and conditions. If we continue to shop as cheap as possible we will continue to devaluate fashion and its real price.
And just think for yourself: If you spend 70 € on something you are most likely going to take better care of it than if you spend 5 €, right? At least, that’s what I’m doing. So even if you are going to shop on the High Street, try and find something that you are going to value and wear for a long time to come. And pay a price that actually sounds reasonable for a garment.
What do you think? Do you know anything about fashion prices I did not mention? Any tips?
Picture via Helena’s blog.
I work in the fashion industry Hanna and you are spot on. If we all continue to shop at the super-cheap stores like Primark or Forever 21, or WALMART for that matter, other mass-market stores will only fight to compete with the prices. And as someone who works in mass-market design, I can tell you, it’s all about hitting that cheap retail price. Unfortunately, a more expensive store doesn’t necessarily mean they pay their employees and factory workers more. Sometimes the quality is just as poor, you’re just paying for the brand name. It’s a difficult industry to navigate. I avoid shopping at the ones I KNOW must have poor practices (because they are SO cheap, and can turn trends SO fast), but I’m also making an effort to buy more second-hand clothes, or to buy more “classic” as opposed to “fast trend” pieces. Also to just buy less in general. You put in right when you said “buy something you are going to value and wear for a long time to come”. Fashion has unfortunately become so fast of an industry, that clothes are practically disposable after one season (both because of the quick-trends and the poor-quality). I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on it!
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.
February 1, 2015
The last line here makes a lot of sense. If it feels good, looks well made and fits to what you want/are thinking long term then it’s worth paying a resonable price for.