With the ongoing argument that South African politiciansshould be wearing designed and made in South Africa clothing, the author suggeststhat it is vital that the fashion industry communicates this message to thegovernment officials in a strong coordinated and synchronised voice.
Instead of cheap rhetoric from South African presidenthopeful Jackob Zuma who said the ruling party "needed to become moreinvolved in the economy ... [and] look for ways of saving and growing jobs inthe clothing and textile sector
President Obama's wife Michelle is supporting American fashion.Even though she has been unfairly criticised by "The Black ArtistsAssociation" for having yet to use a black designer and instead has wornclothing designed by Cuban and Asian-American designers - of course she isgoing to wear at some time clothing designed by African-Americans. The point isshe is supporting and promoting American designers and American retailers.
Obama's children Malia and Sasha wore on the day theirfather was sworn in as President of America dresses from American retailer J Crewa company that started in 1983. According to it promotional material thecompany "uses the finest fabrics, craftsmen and mills from Europe and the US." News reports said the company's website crashed due to high traffic when theAmerican public discovered where the children's clothing had been purchasedfrom.
Clothing researchers in America say that Mrs. Obama willhave a positive impact on the American apparel sector. According to retailanalysts companies such as Gap and its Banana Republic chain, J. Crew, ClubMonaco and Chico White House/Black Market will be some of the benefactors ofher choice in clothing. Of course it will be dependant on
these retailers to take advantage of this global opportunityto sustain the interest in their fashion lines.The central point to Mrs. Obama'schoice of clothing is that she is demonstrating that even the First Lady ofAmerica can look slick and elegant without having to wear Couture designs withhefty price tags.
In most cases in the world of fashion and glamour there is aMachiavellian side - SWEATSHOPS - and this most hated of words in the fashionindustry can be linked to Mrs. Obama's choice of clothing. While I applaud herfor using American designers, her choice of retail brands is questionable. InJuly 2008, New York State labour officials investigated an American clothingcompany in Queens, New York that employed Chinese immigrants.
Investigators said the company, Jin Shun, cheated itsworkers out of more than $5 million in pay, told its workers to lie toinspectors, did not pay overtime to their employees and kept two sets oftimecards. Guess which company is linked to this inexcusable exploitation oflabour-GAP one of the companies that may benefit from Mrs. Obama's choice offashion. Another company supported by Mrs. Obama is Banana Republic. In March2008, the company was linked to sweatshop labour in India where workers makingclothing for this brand are forced to work up to 70 hours a week for under adollar an hour. Club Monaco, apparently another favourite of the First Lady isaffiliated to the Ralph Lauren's fashion empire which is known to source itsmanufacturing from dubious clothing companies that exploit workers.
Whilst the author argues that South African politicians needto wear the talk and emulate America's new first family they should go furtherand demonstrate that they will only support local designers, retailers andmanufacturers that have a transparent, ethical sourcing procedure and in thecase of manufacturing support those companies that are registered with theSouth African Clothing Bargaining Council.
About the Author:
Renato Palmi is associated with The ReDress Consultancy-South Africa &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(1692)%>"title="blocked::http://www.redressconsultancy.com/">www.redressconsultancy.com
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