Happy True Cost Tuesday, where we unpack some of the reasons behind why we at Yobel only provide fair trade, ethical, and sustainable clothing and accessories. Today I'll continue talking about Fast Fashion but specifically that, “there’s enough to go around”, as we like to say.
As I mentioned last week, the majority of our clothing and fashion accessories come from sweatshops. Sweatshop wages can be as low as 3 cents an hour, USD, and workers can work up to 100 hours per week. The companies using sweatshops are capitalizing on the low wages and long hours. To put this in some perspective, an average shirt that is sold for $60.00 in the US can cost less than 10 cents to make! These companies are making a massive profit, but there is enough to go around that wouldn’t necessarily mean raising the price an item is sold for. It could come from the profit margin like most businesses have to figure out, but they’d rather not go there. In an article from theworldcounts.com, they explain that doubling wages of a garment worker would only be about a 1.8% increase. That's not a huge investment for the $3 trillion clothing industry.
There are some awesome organizations monitoring the advancement of accountability in the fashion industry and communicating their findings. One organization, re/make, audited 58 of the largest Fast Fashion brands in the world and most didn’t measure up. These ratings take into account “companies’ actions towards social and environmental justice goals, rather than just their promises alone” and cover six categories of which “Wages & Wellbeing” count for 23 of 150 possible points.
The top companies for “Wellness & Wellbeing” where 8 points were the highest score, include: PUMA (8), Adidas Group (6), Everlane (4), H&M Group (4) and LuluLemon (4).
The bottom companies in the “Wellness & Wellbeing” category scored 0-3 and were: Madewell (0), Shein (0), American Eagle Outfitters (2), REI (2) and Gap Inc. (3). (See full report here.)
So often it can feel challenging to find brands that are doing things better so thankfully, Yobel has over 60 that do! For your denim, your shoe game, that extra Colorado layer, that date night dress and handbag, we have you covered! We hope this continues to encourage your ethical and sustainable purchases. Small steps make a big impact and as we love to say, a little local love, does a lot of global good.