Gap leave a Gap

It seems Gap have declined to respond to my letter sent several months ago to them. These are the questions that I asked them, and which they did not want to answer: What percentage of the retail price of a garment goes to the worker who made it? How do you determine how much to [...]

Plugging the Gap

I have just written another letter to the fashion retailer Gap asking about their ethical practices.  In the past Gap have had very bad press about the production of garments for them, in particular regarding the conditions at their cotton factories and farms. Having said this though, Labour Behind the Label lists them in their [...]

London Fashion Week and Poverty

London Fashion Week opens today facing accusations that garment workers are paid poverty wages producing clothing for some of Britain’s largest retailers.With the week starting on the first UN Day of Social Justice, a charity warned that exploitation haunts the event. War on Want has campaigned against systemic abuse of overseas garment workers, toiling marathon [...]

Debenhams go on the Blacklist

I have added Debenhams to my blacklist as they have failed to respond to the letter I wrote to them enquiring about their ethical trading standards.  I am a little surprised as they are a member of ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative) and have a supplier code of conduct.  However, it seems I am not the only [...]

It made me want to cry

The other day my daughter was given a t-shirt from Asda/George that cost just £2, it made me want to cry.  Clothing is always made by hand and given that the item only cost £2 the person making it must surely have been paid less than 20p for making it, costs such as fabric/shipping and then Asda’s [...]

Letter to Dorothy Perkins

I have just printed off my letter to Dorothy Perkins asking them about their commitment to ethical trade and the treatment of their workers in developing countries.  On their website there is no ethical policy and they are not members of ETI (the Ethical Trading Initiative) which is disappointing.  In the ‘Lets Clean up Fashion’ [...]

Primark on Panorama

Did you see the BBC Panorama’s programme about Primark yesterday?  It is still available on BBC iPlayer if you didn’t.  It was worth watching at it showed convincing evidence of the conditions that workers in India endure in order to have an income.  £1 in every £10 spent on clothes in the UK is spent in [...]

Getting Started

So far I have researched and published my own list of high street retailers and how ethically aware they are.  See the ‘High Street’ link above to see this information and my ideas on what to do with it.  To follow up I hope to write to all, or at least some, of the retailers [...]