Child exploitation is a devastating topic right now in the clothing industry. BBC’s Panorama uncovered this week “The Kids Who Have to Sew to Survive,” and it was a topic, which really struck a nerve with us.
The effects of child labour are extensive and soul shattering and, unfortunately, very real. Much like the workhouses in a Dickens novel, children are subjected to hellish conditions, no health and safety, poor pay and ridiculously long hours. Not to mention the very basic and obvious fact that kids should be at school and should not be working!
At Bags of Love, no kids are involved in the making of your clothes
Bags of Love is a UK based company and our garment supply chain begins and ends here. Fast fashion is exciting, it is stylish and it is addictive, but, for many popular high street brands, the price to pay for producing fast fashion is the ignorance of not fully understanding or knowing where their clothes are being made.
In the Panorama documentary, allegations were investigated that in Turkey, Syrian refugees and children as young as 7 are being exploited in the garment industry and that there was a child labour epidemic; all because they don’t have a choice. They need to work. And they are being abused and demoralised for mere pennies an hour. The results were eye-opening, heart-breaking and blood-boiling.
We don’t take shortcuts to produce fast fashion
We can’t stop this child labour epidemic by ourselves, but we can do something to ensure we go against everything it stands for. When you customise clothing with Bags of Love, you can have confidence knowing who has made them. Everything we make is produced by us, in London, UK. We do not use unknown subcontractors, we are not a sweatshop, we believe in fair pay for a fair day and there is no unethical treatment. Most importantly, working at Bags of Love is for grown-ups only!
Every order we receive is processed, printed and handmade by our talented team of educated craftsmen, dressmakers, skilled sewers and printers, which means we produce safe and responsible fashion.
Handmade, quality, fair, local, ethical
One of the most upsetting conclusions of the BBC’s investigation, is that so many of the brands uncovered, which seem to be profiting from refugees and children, claimed they were not aware of child labour being used in the production of their clothes. WE know who makes your clothes as every step of our production process is united under one roof. Be sure you know where your clothes come from. At Bags of Love, you design your clothes and we make them, in conditions which we are proud of. We need to always strive for truly sustainable and ethical supply chains and with Bags of Love, we know who sews your clothes because we all work together.