20th January 2014 – Contextual Studies, WEEK 1 cont....

20th January 2014 – Contextual Studies,  WEEK 1 cont....

Cheap Fashion, Fast Fashion

The price of women's clothing has fallen by a third over the last 10 years.

Highstreet shops used to stick two collections a year, now they are more likely to have something new every month, or even week!

Chain Stores make profits by selling large quantities of inexpensive clothing to people who buy new things every week.

There are 5,000 Garment factories in DHAKA, bangladesh.

                                  These are known for low wages and poor working conditions.

                                                               Children aged 13 working in the facories, oldest in the factories. 

                                                                                    Paid $20 a month - ILLEGAL

                                                               Minimum wage = $36 a month

                                   A family of four survive on $100/£80 a month

Family of four share a piece of fish once a month!!

RESEARCH

LABOUR BEHIND THE LABEL

FASHIONING AN ETHNICAL INDUSTRY

DHAKA

24th April 2013 - factory collapse, 1129 dead, 2515 injured

Nov 2013 - 50 fires in last 10 months, 100 died in Tazreen.

PANORAMA, DYING FOR A BARGAIN.

Landfill...

Over 1 million tones of clothing is discarded in the UK.

75% is taken to landfill whilst 25% is recycled.

There was a lot of research to take in, in one 3 hour workshop. However, I did find it very eye opening. It is amazing how much is kept secret from the consumer and how many of the highstreet shops actually use sweatshops!!! 

In this project I wanted to use wool and knitting as the focus for my project to display its versatility and the opportunities for its use in the design industry. Perhaps it may be a good idea to look into the production of wool in the same way as we have today with cotton??