The Story Behind Our Clothes
Too Cheap Fashion
​
Unfortunately, too many of the clothes we buy in the U.S. come from sweatshops, where employees work long hours for little pay in often unsafe conditions. News items in recent years like the 2012 Bangladesh Garment Factory Fire in Dhaka and the 2013 Rana Plaza Garment Factory Collapse have served to bring these conditions to the attention of the world. Follow the story and news links below to learn more about the dark side of the fashion industry. Then visit our Ethical Fashion Guide to discover sweatshop-free clothing that is changing lives.
​
THE STORY BEHIND FASHION:
​
Consumers for Christ:
Reacting to the Best Kept Secret in the West​
World Vision Canada:
CTV News:
"Bangladeshi Workers Protest Deadly Factory Conditions"​
Watch: BBC News:
"Dhaka Building Collapse: Women Pulled Alive from the Rubble"
​FiveThirtyEight:
"Where the U.S. Gets Its Clothing: One Year After the Bangladesh Factory Collapse"
The Guardian Interactive Journey:
"The Shirt on your Back: The Human Cost of the Bangladeshi Garment Industry"
NY Times:
"Retailers Like H&M and Walmart Fall Short of Pledges to Overseas Workers"
Fast Company:
"Slave Labor Camps are Supplying American Fashion Brands"
​
Quartz:
“H&M, Gap, and Walmart are accused of widespread worker abuse"
International Labor Rights Forum
​DW: "Cambodia's Garment Workers Facing New Problems as Wages Rise"
​The Wall Street Journal:
"Garment Brands Support Workers' Push for Higher Wages"​
Watch:
"The 2-Euro T-Shirt: A Social Experiment"
​
Watch:
BOOK: Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories and People Who Make Our Clothes by Kelsey Timmerman
BOOK: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America ​by David Von Drehle (Note the similarities between this event and the 2012 Factory Fire in Dhaka.)
​
Watch: "The True Cost" Documentary
​
NPR:
"43 Dead in 'Extremely Horrific' Fire at New Delhi Factory"
​