Ethical chic is the new high fashion
The Times, October 2007
Several years ago a journalist asked Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, a question about the conditions of his workers in China. “We don’t have any factories in China,” was his response. To him it was clear: Nike’s suppliers were not his responsibility.
How far we – and Nike – have travelled since then. Clothes retailers may be the end-point of a long and complex production process, but responsibility runs all the way to the back. Ensuring that workers in developing countries are treated fairly has become the No 1 issue for clothes retailers, as our Concerned Consumers make clear. It outweighs issues including animal testing and climate change several times over.
Dealing with this issue is no small task. Effectively policing supply chains that span continents and incorporate multitudes of individual contractors is a tall order. The chances of someone somewhere violating the company code are high, as Gap found to its chagrin last weekend. It is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process.
So should we all be feeling sorry for the clothes retailers? Not really. After all, clothing brands are an integral part of image, used by consumers to say something about themselves and their values. Sweatshops are not something that anyone wants to wear. And where there are risks, there are also opportunities.
As Marks & Spencer has begun to show, the brand that
successfully stamps ethical authority on all aspects of its manufacturing process
stands to thrive. This is acutely relevant to retailers at both ends of the price
spectrum. It could sound the death knell for the cheap chic phenomenon.
Who is going to crow about their cut-price designer copy if it smells of child
labour? And then – and this is where it starts getting really crazy – how about
if you have paid top price for it and it still smells the same?
So far, luxury goods manufacturers have failed to convince consumers that higher prices mean higher standards. Factor-in that provenance, quality and ethical practices are intimately entwined and it could spell the end of the luxury bubble.
Giles Gibbons is the managing director of Good Business www.goodbusiness.co.uk
