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| Your personal Bangladeshi seamstress |
How do I know that your clothes are made there? I can almost guarantee it, actually.
According to the site Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Americans buy 20 billion (with a “b”) articles of clothing every year – roughly 68 garments per American annually. 98% of the clothing that Americans buy is made outside the United States. This is up from only 50% in 1990, an incredible sea change in outsourced manufacturing in just two decades. According to Wikipedia, Bangladesh is the 2nd largest producer of clothing in the world, and is projected to take the #1 spot within the next 5 years.
Why Bangladesh? Well, the production of clothing is surprisingly labor intensive. From spinning to weaving, dyeing to cutting, sewing to finishing, there are hundreds of steps involved in producing even a simple garment. China has long been the world leader in clothing production, but according to a recent Global Sources article, labor now accounts for 40% of the cost of making a garment in that country. In Bangladesh, labor is a lot cheaper – it only accounts for 20% of the cost of making a garment. This explains why despite some of the challenges of working in Bangladesh, famous clothing brands the world over are flocking there to invest in larger and larger sourcing operations. Bangladesh has millions of workers willing to do a lot for very little.
So like I said – I can almost guarantee that if you look through your drawers and closets (or just check the labels on the clothes you’re wearing), you will find a “Made in Bangladesh” label on something or other. But it doesn’t have to be Bangladesh… the point here is that we are wearing stuff made all over the world. I didn’t plan this, but I just checked the clothes I have on – Jockey t-shirt made in India, Basic Equipment shirt made in Peru, BVD boxers from El Salvador, Old Navy jeans from China, and shoes from Vietnam. I may not be cosmopolitan, but my wardrobe is. And I don’t have to search far to find Bangladesh: I’ve got a pair of St. John’s Bay khaki pants that I wear to work at least twice a week, bought at a J.C. Penney (big spending fashion mogul that I am) in Vermont, and made in Bangladesh.
We put a lot of thought these days into where our food is coming from – is it locally sourced? Is it organic? Is it safe? How do I know who’s producing it? Buying clothing is a lot less thought provoking, but maybe it shouldn’t be. So follow me below the jump, to learn just a little bit about how the stuff you’re wearing gets made.
