Lubach: “Fair clothing is a matter of priorities”

Ever since the Rana Plaza disaster, the clothing industry has clamoured for transparency in the clothing manufacturing branch, but Zondag met Lubach’s Arjen Lubach proved on Sunday that there is no actual transparency yet.

More expensive does not equal more fairness

It is no secret our clothing comes from low-wage countries and ever since the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh where more than 1,100 textile workers died, there have been several attempts to improve labour conditions. Arjan Lubach has shown there is still a long way to go.

The consumer barely seems to wonder where his clothes are coming from. If it is available in stores, then it can be sold, most seem to think. Customers who shop consciously, face issues actually doing so. One tendency is to buy more expensive clothing, but luxury brands are often the least transparent, while fast fashion companies like H&M and Inditex are actually the most transparent.

“Choose not to find out”

Companies do shout claims like “conscious enterprise” or “socially responsible enterprise”, but things still go awry. A number of major brands say they cannot guarantee that there is no child labour anywhere in the supply chain. Many manufacturers use subcontractors and those are not checked so rigorously. “There is an entire forest of subcontractors and therefore companies lose track of their own manufacturing process”, Lubach said.

He refuses to accept that excuse however: “It is simply a matter of priorities and they have chosen not to find out.” The presenter also refers to the recall procedures when there is something wrong with clothing. At such a time, everything is possible and the costs do not matter.

Despite efforts to improve Bengali labour conditions, a lot of European textile companies are also rendering those futile with a simple trick: they relocate to another country. Maynmar is a popular new destination and it happens to be in the same situation as where Bangladesh was in several years ago.

European Commission does not do anything

Consumers are basically unable to find out the labour conditions surrounding their clothing and Lubach believes companies do not want to know. That is why he turns his gaze to the politicians and the treaty many fashion companies and manufacturers signed. He is disappointed that there are no penalties for those who do not adhere to the treaty’s regulations. They can be expelled from the treaty, but there are no actual consequences aside from some tarnished image. The treaty is not a formal legal framework.

Europe would need to provide such a framework. The European Parliament sent a proposal to the European Commission, hoping to tackle the clothing industry’s malpractices. However, there is a chilling silence at the European Commission and the clothing industry is (obviously) not in favour of strict legislation.

Lubach’s conclusion is simple yet frustrating: nobody knows exactly who makes our clothing and no one seems interested to really know either.