In this assignment, we were paired with another student and assigned the task of choosing a piece of clothing and doing the following:
- Create a “life cycle” with all the necessary components
- From the lifecycle choose two components of the chain (one for each person)
- Of the two components choose which partner will investigate the environmental aspect of one component and the social aspect of the other component.
- Once done then each partner creates an infographic to represent the data.
I have been partnered with Luana Tardy and for our garment, we have decided to choose the “sneaker.” The reason for this choice was because we were both wearing sneakers when we needed to decide on a garment as well as our general interest in the product.
Initial rough life cycle sketch representing the main components a sneaker’s life cycle
After looking at the life cycle we realized that there would be many components to cover for the sneaker as there are a lot of different materials in the shoe. Therefore, in regards to the environmental aspect, we decided to minimize it even further and look at one of the most important materials included in a shoe, rubber.
Our proposal is as follows:
Luana will research the environmental impacts of rubber production, within the scope of sneakers, on the environment on which it is grown. Ali will research the social impacts of wages on outsourced workers from developing countries who work in sneaker factories.
Each will present our own infographic that delves into the topic more with supporting evidence from trustworthy sources such as “Human Rights Watch”, “Business & Human Rights”, and “Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA).”
Luana’s infographic will be analog or handmade, while Ali’s infographic will be digitally produced.
Initial Research:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/02/when-clothing-labels-are-matter-life-or-death
“This spring marks a solemn milestone. More than five years have passed since a series of deadly fire and building accidents in Pakistan and Bangladesh together killed more than 1,500 workers and injured thousands more”
“Brand-label information matters not just for fire and building safety. The $2.4 trillion apparel industry, which predominantly employs women as garment workers, witnesses a host of labor abuses. These range from poor wages to factory owners and managers denying paid maternity benefits or even firing pregnant workers to harassment of union leaders to forced overtime work to workplace sexual harassment.”
“At least 17 leading companies have committed to publishing all the information sought in the pledge. Another 18 companies, though falling short of pledge standards, committed, for the first time, to publishing their supplier factory information.”
“Today, a number of leading companies, including Adidas, ASOS, Benetton, C&A, Esprit, Gap Inc., H&M, Hugo Boss, Levi’s, Marks and Spencer, New Balance, Nike, Patagonia, Primark, and Puma, have disclosed at least the names and addresses of their supplier factories.”
“But a vast majority of the industry, including big companies like Walmart—which co-founded the Sustainable Apparel Coalition—and other fast-fashion leaders like Inditex (owns Zara), Mango, Desigual, Urban Outfitters, and Forever 21 are among those that still do not publicly disclose which factories produce their branded clothes.”
https://fashionunited.uk/news/business/adidas-faces-compliant-for-breaching-oecd-guidelines-in-indonesia/2018031428643
“London – Sportswear giant Adidas AG reported another year of strong sales and growth, as it remains firmly on track to achieve “quality growth” for 2018 following its FY17 financial report. However, against this strong performance comes growing concerns that Adidas has failed to assess its human rights risks in its global supply chain, as the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) prepares to file a complaint against the sportswear company for breaching OECD guidelines in Indonesia.
The CCC, the garment industry’s largest alliance of labor unions and non-governmental organizations, is set to file a complaint against Adidas to the German National Contact Point of the OECD for failing to provide access to remedy for 327 workers from their Indonesian footwear supplier Panarub…..”
https://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights/labor-rights-garment-industry#
“The US$2.4 trillion garment and footwear industry, employs millions of workers worldwide. Clothes and shoes produced in countries in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe or other parts find their way into the clothes racks in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Labor abuses in factories that produce these clothes and shoes are rife. In countries around the world, factory owners and managers often fire pregnant workers or deny maternity leave; retaliate against workers who join or form unions; force workers to do overtime work or risk losing their job, and turn a blind eye when male managers or workers sexually harass female workers.”
Final Research Points:
After reading extensively on the subject I decided to include a few bits of information that outline the issue of low wages and subsequent worker’s rights abuses in the industry. Below you will find the information that I synthesized for the infographic
- The garment industry is a major abuser of human and worker’s rights, especially in developing countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, etc. As these countries produce so much, for very little, it is common for their workers to be taken advantage of. Sneaker brands such as Nike and Adidas are no exception, as the demand for sneakers increases globally.
- Developing countries, especially those in the Asia Pacific, are the chief producers of garment industry goods. To maintain this role, it is common for countries to not enforce laws that would protect laborers in order to keep costs low and production high.
- Factories licensed under major brands such as Nike often pay their workers the bare minimum wage. However, forced overtime without compensation still occurs rendering the minimum wage unlivable for the worker and their families.
- Sneaker brands do not pressure their factories to meet international human rights standards, although they have the power to do so. This results in the violation of worker rights.
- Despite these issues, leading sneaker brands have made some efforts to decrease abuse. One such effort is the “Transparency Pledge” where brands release information on the factories they use.
The final sources I used for this information and images for the infographic are:
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-workers-worldcup/adidas-nike-urged-to-ensure-fair-wages-for-asian-workers-making-world-cup-kits-idUSKBN1J727J
- https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nike-workers-pay-kaepernick/
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/02/when-clothing-labels-are-matter-life-or-death
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cambodian-riot-police-clash-with-anti-government-protesters-1.2511490
- https://solecollector.com/news/2017/06/cambodian-women-factory-workers-suffer-mass-faintings
- https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50114350/eu-and-cambodia-commit-to-stronger-trade-relations/
- https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/cambodia-falls-further-behind-competitiveness
Process of Creating the Infographic:
For my Infographic I wanted to use a very well known sneaker that not only would be instantly recognizable but play a role in the development of recent trends and fast fashion. I decided to use the Nike Air Force 1 High 07 as they have been and still prove to be fashion staples. I myself own a similar pair of sneakers, the Nike Air Force 1 ’07.
The first thing I did was find a good quality graphic online that would help me in the construction of the infographic.
http://oldmint.info/nike-air-max-coloring-pages/nike-air-max-coloring-pages-best-of-nike-coloring-pages-cute-coloring/
After I found this graphic I took it to Photoshop to begin editing it. I started with a stark color to make it easier to see my editing. This is why the background color is an intense “highlighter green.”
To edit the image I found that it would be better if I edited photos of workers, riots, and protests into the graphic so that I could clearly connect the issues facing factory workers in the industry with the beloved shoe.
After completing that composition I began designing the rest of the infographic by adding a title, text, and layout. At first, I thought I wanted to entitle the piece as “Society and the Sneaker” but quickly realized that it was very vague. I then decided to entitle the piece “Social Impacts of the Sneaker.” I believe this is a bit more straight forward.
Final Infographic:
