09 Track 9

Review unit 1

fluency practice

review reading 1: The Globalization of Fashion

Page 59

The Globalization of Fashion

Walk down any shopping street in a big city and you’ll see big names such as Zara, H&M, Or Nike. A dress bought from one of these stores will be exactly the same as in another store halfway around the world.

Indeed, fashion is one of the most globalized industries, with giant retailers who can create new designs, send them to be manufactured, and then distributed to stores around the world − all with the click of a mouse or a simple phone call.

For consumers in developed countries, globalization means an abundance of choice. This is the era of “fast fashion,” where designs can go from the design board to factories to stores in two weeks.

It is also “fast” in the sense that it takes less time for trends to come and go. Historically, the price of clothes has never been lower and this, combined with the ever-changing stock, encourages people to follow the latest fashions and change their wardrobes more frequently.

However, the speed and low price of fashion can come at a cost. For consumers, it may result in poor quality fabrics and badly-made clothes that fall apart after being warn several times.

Then there is a much heavier cost − one that involves the people who actually make the clothes. Many big multinational companies do not manufacture their own goods, but sign contracts with manufacturers to produce them.

These manufacturers then source and engage factories in developing countries for tasks like sewing and cutting. Because poverty is high, these factories can exploit the workers and pay them wages that are as low as 23 cents an hour.

A government investigation into factories manufacturing Zara clothes revealed that it cost Inditex (the company that owns Zara) about $1.14 to manufacture a pair of jeans selling at $126.

This $1.14 doesn’t go straight to the worker who makes the clothes, but is divided among the parties involved in the entire production process.

Although the minimum wage in Brazil is $344, these factory workers only earned between $156 and $290 a month. Renato Bignami, who led the investigation, said: “They work 16 or even 18 hours a day.

It is extremely exhausting work, from Monday to Saturday, sometimes even Sunday depending on demand.”

But supporters of this globalized labor process argue that retail companies are not the main culprits since, without them, many people in developing countries would be without a job.

They also feel that it’s impossible for companies to monitor all the factories that work for them, and that responsibility to enforce labor laws should lie with the government.

Consumers are also responsible, even if unintentionally. By choosing to buy cheaper clothes, they force brands to lower their prices to compete against each other, which in turn forces manufacturers to drive wages down.

The hope is that consumers are able to use their spending power to convince companies to take a more ethical route, for example, by giving contracts to manufacturers with good track records and how they treat their employees.

In the late 1990s, sports brand Nike came under pressure when campaigners exposed what went on in the factories making its products.

This included child labor, unsafe working conditions including exposure to dangerous chemicals, low pay, and very long working hours. All the negative publicity, including a long-running campaign to boycott the brand, finally forced Nike to take action, for example, by conducting regular factory inspections.

Globalization is not necessarily a bad thing, but the many layers and processes involved in producing goods certainly encourages exploitation and helps companies avoid responsibility for any wrongdoing.

In the end, it’s important that consumers are aware of what goes into producing their clothes and choose responsible and ethical companies when it comes to spending their money.