Probably the best thing to come out of the Made in China Olympic Uniform Controversy is that people are finally talking about the problem of where and how our clothes are being made. And it’s not just fashion history people and manufacturing people, but Americans in general. This is a national conversation that is long over due.
It’s really easy to just blame Ralph Lauren for making the clothes in China, but the company was just doing business as usual. They don’t hear all the customers lining up to shop in their stores complaining that the goods are made in China, so why would they have any reason to suspect this would be any different.
Truth is, many people have not been concerned about so much of our clothing being outsourced, and those who are concerned have not been vocal in their disapproval. But now the problem is out in the open, and everyone seems to have a strong opinion – mainly that it was wrong to make the Olympic uniforms in China. Hopefully all of us critics will apply the same standards to our own wardrobes.
There are people who are accusing the outraged Congress of being hypocritical. After all, many of them voted for the trade agreements that led to the downward spiral of the US textile industry. And there are those who say that it is all just a lot of political posturing. You know what? I don’t care.
What I care about is that a bill, Team USA Made in America Act of 2012, will be introduced this week that says that the US Olympic Team uniforms must be made in the USA. From what I’ve read over the weekend, several countries, including Canada, already have such a rule.
What I also care about is that many people have already been taking a look at their own closets, and I’ll bet that a lot have been shocked at what they’ve found. As hard as I work toward having a wardrobe of clothing and shoes made only by people working under fair working conditions, I do have a few items of dubious origin. Some are thrift store buys, but others came from catalogs orders before I learned that the word “imported” actually means ”Made in China.” My shoe and handbag departments are especially troubling, and this is from a shopper who has, for the past two years, been consciously trying to buy more responsibly.
Now that it has been proven that Ralph Lauren could have made the uniforms in the USA (Doug Williams, ceo of US made Hickey Freeman and Dov No-stranger-to-controversy Charney of American Apparel have extended offers to remake the RL Olympic clothes, as has the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) hopefully people will start asking the really important question: Why isn’t he making those iconic American clothes he is selling in his stores in America?
Photo copyright Ralph Lauren
This is great news! I agree with you, Lizzie, I don’t care if people call it “posturing”–it resulted in a change.
One of my concerns, and the one I find most difficult to overcome is the sweatshop. I know that sewing 8 (if only 8!) hours a day would just kill me. There is no way for me to trust “committees” that certify clothing manufacturers as humane. I hear this about rugs made in India and Pakistan, in particular, and I still believe there are children chained to looms there. At least clothing made in this country, as deplorable as I find American Apparel’s designs to be, are somewhere I could walk into there and look. OSHA can inspect. I am coming to believe that I will need to resign myself to paying significantly more for my clothes, or make them myself if I am to avoid “imported.” Perhaps one of the most wonderful things that will come of this is the re-emergence of the town seamstress. On the other hand, this will significantly cut down on earnings in those countries, and will probably impact women most, if my thought that most of these workers are women is correct, increasing poverty, and I doubt that their options are many. Still, all in all, I’d rather support local talent.
If I thought that the workers in China and India and Bangladesh and so on were being paid a fair wage and were being treated well and not working 10+ hours a day, I’d have no objection to buying goods from these countries. One hates to think they are taking away the means of support of a person on the other side of the world, but by buying these goods one is perpetuating the system that is exploiting them. It’s a sorry situation.
I’m an American seamstress and I have no problem working 12+ hours a day (because I truly love what I do), but I’m worth every penny so I insist on a decent wage.
Even in the U.S., it is hard to find work where someone (who probably doesn’t speak much English) won’t under-bid you on a job. I hope that people will learn from this outcry that custom-work and labor should not always go to the lowest cost workers. (Sadly, it always seems to be about the bottom line.)
I’ve touched a little on alterations and custom-work on my blog, but it’s amazing to me how people still think labor should be free or next-to-nothing!