I absolutely loved reading this and learning more about luxury brands illegal practices.
I stopped buying (and coveting) “designer” goods about 7 years ago for many reasons, some covered in this essay.
More importantly I reduced my clothing consumption exponentially and now only buy a few pieces a year from independent women owned, women operated, and locally made boutique brands. They employ women seamstresses, pay them a living wage and offer benefits. They also offer free alterations for that perfect fit. Clothes you can truly feel good about!
On the plus side, because of my former consumption I never have to buy another damn handbag ever again!! LOL
It's truly liberating!! The amount of time I wasted on shopping IRL and online window shopping in my 20's & 30's I could have learned a new musical instrument, an art, new language, spent more time hiking, and in the outdoors in general, the list is endless. Now I'm doing some of those things and am wildly happier!!
I'm constantly "Swedish Death Cleaning", regularly re-homing/gifting items I haven't worn in too long. I encourage friends to borrow for nights out (jewellery, handbags, shoes, accessories), which makes for fun get-togethers!! I love gifting heels to younger friends when they might be looking to buy (I kept/keep them in pristine condition in original boxes & packaging, most are truly like brand-new). The joy I get from this is immeasurable. At 49yo I eschew heels over 2" (rarely even wear those) and love my comfy stylish sneakers! If I can help it I don't want anyone to buy anything new!!
This article has me thinking about the relationship we have to our items, both when in their creation and when we own them. I heard from this article that our items have meaning and we can choose to buy better items for not only ourselves but for other people. These sweatshops exist because people continue to buy the items. And I just know we would all be happier and the world would be kinder to one another if we stopped consuming so much. Thank you for sharing.
This drives me insane because this is an issue people care about and keep trying to do something about but the asymmetry in information means it requires government action (with teeth) and so far they’ve refused to step up. At the very least the people supervising sweatshops in Italy should surely go to jail? But also fines for anyone who used their products!
My only quibble is that “this is the world we now live in” implies it was ever better… I actually think working conditions in the West are far better than they have ever been before. We’re just having a lot of trouble figuring out how to make sure that the products sold in the West to consumers there aren’t exploiting people elsewhere - and for this I blame the corporations and governments.
Working conditions actually used to be better, there was a time when workers rights were increasing while now they are decreasing. And have been since the 80s and the rise of neoliberal economics in the west. I'm old enough to have been around when this started happening so it's not just something I think is happening I've seen it. Job security is decreasing, unions are being eroded. etc.
To take an extreme example: in Florida workers' protection from working during extreme heat were just taken away.
Of course there's nuance, but when it comes to Austria where I live and which compared to the US is still a safe haven, it is very obvious that the rights workers fought for are taken away step by step. The time people are allowed to work has been raised, protection from random firing is decreased, unemployment benefits have been cut drastically and so forth, so yes, it used to be better. It is still better than it might have been in the early 1900s but working conditions were way better here in the 80s than they are now.
Oh absolutely, I was speaking carelessly in terms of centuries and millenium - people working for others have historically been treated worse in many ways than today. Within the last 60 years it’s much more a story of pluses and minuses and I begrudge the loss of paid lunch hour etc. as much as anyone!
I absolutely loved reading this and learning more about luxury brands illegal practices.
I stopped buying (and coveting) “designer” goods about 7 years ago for many reasons, some covered in this essay.
More importantly I reduced my clothing consumption exponentially and now only buy a few pieces a year from independent women owned, women operated, and locally made boutique brands. They employ women seamstresses, pay them a living wage and offer benefits. They also offer free alterations for that perfect fit. Clothes you can truly feel good about!
On the plus side, because of my former consumption I never have to buy another damn handbag ever again!! LOL
It's amazing when you get to the point when you realize you need nearly nothing that is mass produced, right? 😁
It's truly liberating!! The amount of time I wasted on shopping IRL and online window shopping in my 20's & 30's I could have learned a new musical instrument, an art, new language, spent more time hiking, and in the outdoors in general, the list is endless. Now I'm doing some of those things and am wildly happier!!
I'm constantly "Swedish Death Cleaning", regularly re-homing/gifting items I haven't worn in too long. I encourage friends to borrow for nights out (jewellery, handbags, shoes, accessories), which makes for fun get-togethers!! I love gifting heels to younger friends when they might be looking to buy (I kept/keep them in pristine condition in original boxes & packaging, most are truly like brand-new). The joy I get from this is immeasurable. At 49yo I eschew heels over 2" (rarely even wear those) and love my comfy stylish sneakers! If I can help it I don't want anyone to buy anything new!!
This article has me thinking about the relationship we have to our items, both when in their creation and when we own them. I heard from this article that our items have meaning and we can choose to buy better items for not only ourselves but for other people. These sweatshops exist because people continue to buy the items. And I just know we would all be happier and the world would be kinder to one another if we stopped consuming so much. Thank you for sharing.
This drives me insane because this is an issue people care about and keep trying to do something about but the asymmetry in information means it requires government action (with teeth) and so far they’ve refused to step up. At the very least the people supervising sweatshops in Italy should surely go to jail? But also fines for anyone who used their products!
My only quibble is that “this is the world we now live in” implies it was ever better… I actually think working conditions in the West are far better than they have ever been before. We’re just having a lot of trouble figuring out how to make sure that the products sold in the West to consumers there aren’t exploiting people elsewhere - and for this I blame the corporations and governments.
Hi Yanina,
thank you for your perspective.
Working conditions actually used to be better, there was a time when workers rights were increasing while now they are decreasing. And have been since the 80s and the rise of neoliberal economics in the west. I'm old enough to have been around when this started happening so it's not just something I think is happening I've seen it. Job security is decreasing, unions are being eroded. etc.
To take an extreme example: in Florida workers' protection from working during extreme heat were just taken away.
Of course there's nuance, but when it comes to Austria where I live and which compared to the US is still a safe haven, it is very obvious that the rights workers fought for are taken away step by step. The time people are allowed to work has been raised, protection from random firing is decreased, unemployment benefits have been cut drastically and so forth, so yes, it used to be better. It is still better than it might have been in the early 1900s but working conditions were way better here in the 80s than they are now.
Oh absolutely, I was speaking carelessly in terms of centuries and millenium - people working for others have historically been treated worse in many ways than today. Within the last 60 years it’s much more a story of pluses and minuses and I begrudge the loss of paid lunch hour etc. as much as anyone!