I agree. The problem is that children are simply not attentive enough to consistently produce quality garments. Its a big no-no for me.

This topic is an old chestnut, but unless you actually have the goods on Uniqlo's maunfacturing conditions then I'm with Mr. Richmond Hill.

"Mass Produced Child Labour Gear" is very emotive stuff. A great headline grabber. But if you can't prove it then it's silly to try to tar all of China/Taiwan with the same brush.

If you can prove that you're right then I agree that Uniqlo is a company we all need to think long and hard about purchasing from, depending on our views on this issue.

But if you can't prove that you're right then all you are doing here is posturing.

Nothing wrong with that. This is the Internet after all. But you need to be aware that any pose over here gets noticed and remembered.

I honestly don't know if Uniqlo's clothes are bathed in the tears of abused children - Please inform me. 'Prove' as they used to say back at school.

Best -

There are sweatshops right here at home.  One of the guys I work with now (a vietnamese fellow) worked in a sweatshop when he was 11 right here in SoCal making about $10/day working 8-10 hours.

Personally I dont care what the Made in Tag says. If I knew 100% for a fact that the product was made in a sweatshop I probably wouldnt purchase it but as formby mentioned that's still not doing anyone any good and if you *really* cared about child labor then getting involved in a direct action group would be a better way to combat it then just sitting on a pedestal and saying "i wont buy it" which really only helps your ego and not much more.

thing too is, as westerners, we tend to impose our values on others all the time (god knows the USA does this to everyone) so we decry things as being "wrong" when it sometimes comes down to a cultural issue that is inconsistent with ours.  For some, as gross as it sounds to us, having their kids work in a "sweatshop" for little money is almost a rite of passage in their culture and is expected from the parents.

I often wear Perrys, too, but I'm not sure, if they don't use sweatshop production as well. After all, it's just a licence brand since the 70s.

LE stands for Limited Edition, made in Italy. Unless of course FP have sneaked some Indian/Chinese kids through the back door in Italy! Has for Uniqlo not been bad guys? how you get a sweatshirt from China/Taiwan to this country for £14,99? Shirts for £6,99? Without having exploited kids/adults make them?

This is of continuing interest and importance IMO.  I never buy anything in any kind of shop before trying to check out where it was made, but this proves sometimes to be impossible.  On-line is difficult, and American Ebayers often want to know why you want to know, why's it important etc.  Then I took a step backwards, looked in the mirror and thought a little bit about the Madras shirts I own.  What would I be thinking if they happened not to be manufactured in India? 

Mmm...  I guess working conditions aren't too great there, either. 

One of my favourite shirts is a cotton shadow half-sleeve, from the 50s.  Made in Japan.  And yet I wouldn't buy their contemporary stuff.

Illogical!

I did say it was illogical...

I have a laundry list of countries and corporate entities I utterly refuse to knowingly do business with.
That said, You will rapidly and irrevocably go blind and mad trying to function without a few compromises. For example, flipping the keyboard I am typing this on reads MADE IN CHINA. So is the keyboard my tibetan friends  email me with. However, my survivalist arsenal is all Made in the USA unlike Idaho patriots with chicom tyre jack SKS carbines.

It is an unfortunate conceit to believe we are 'improving' some Nation's wellfare with non sustainable, extractive and technologicaly innappropriate AND exotic industry to our final benefit. Most of those exploited people were pushed from  long traditional lifestyles into slum conditions by earlier versions of what today is called everything but what it is- a continuity of colonialism that now knows no flag or boundary.

Like FNB, my taste in clothing has narrowed to  looking like I'm replicating George Mallory's climbing kit or  dressing for Pasca Liturgy. The scottish maker of my ventile cloth wind shirt thinks it perfectly rational to sew in a custom pocket for my laphraiog flask. She will 'get to it' after watching the other scottish lady sing for Simon, no exploitation there.Try that at these ersatz adventurewear outfitters.

Last edited by Chris Kavanaugh (2009-04-27 23:52:42)

Last edited by The_Shooman (2009-04-28 02:28:24)

Probably it's better than child prostitution. No?

Flip a coin. Go on.