Who Made Your Clothes?
Across the world, May 1st is recognized as International Worker’s Day. Although no longer celebrated in the U.S., its origins stem from the first national turnout for worker’s rights on May 1st, 1866 as hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across the country to demand an eight-hour workday and better working conditions.
By 1890, May 1st was recognized in cities across Europe as a day to protest for worker’s rights. Four years later, President Grover Cleveland moved the official U.S. celebration of Labor Day to the first Monday in September, intentionally cutting ties with the international worker’s celebration for fear that the movement would spread communism. Today, May Day remains an official holiday in 66 countries across the world.
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This year’s Fashion Revolution Week highlighted how the labor rights movement continues as garment workers demand essentially the same rights as in the mid-1800s. Join the ongoing conversation by asking #whatsinmyclothes and #whomademyclothes?
#whatsinmyclothes aims to hold brands accountable for the full life cycle of the raw materials used in their supply chain. Ask if your favorite brand:
Has a robust animal welfare policy?
Adheres to commitments on hazardous chemicals and restricted substances?
Incinerates unsold stock or sends returned items to landfill?
Has plans to reduce pre-consumer and post-consumer waste?
Has a plan for reducing overproduction?
Measures and publishes their carbon footprint?
Is working to reduce plastic packaging?
Has a plan to reduce the use of virgin polyester and microfiber shedding?
Sources materials from sustainably managed forests?
#whomademyclothes demands quality not just in the clothes we wear but in the lives of people who make them. Ask if your favorite brand:
Has policies in place to ensure women working throughout their supply chain are protected from verbal, physical, and sexual harassment?
Conducts independent audits on every factory it sources from?
Ensures mandatory safety training in every factory it sources from?
Ensures workers throughout its supply chain earn a living wage?
Ensures workers throughout its supply chain can exercise their right to join a union?
Ensures production outsourced by its factory partners adheres to these standards?
The more customers ask #whatsinmyclothes and #whomademyclothes, the more brands will understand the need for transparency, a key component to any business who markets “ethically” or “sustainably” produced products.
Stay tuned as we shared behind-the-scenes insight into our process of sourcing, pricing, garment care, and more! And please let us know in the comments below if there is a particular aspect of our business operations you’d like us to share.
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Subject Matter
PS. Learn more about the history of May Day on a recent episode of On the Media in conversation with Donna Haverty-Stacke, a professor at Hunter College, CUNY and author of America’s Forgotten Holiday: May Day and Nationalism, 1867-1960.