Lois Bosatta

[loisbosatta]

This girl's work is soulful, raw and beautiful. She captures the whole earth in her knitwear. I don't share much here any more but this was worth a plug- check out her work, her passion and read about the ethics of the work he does too.

Suzanna is a Welsh designer and semi-finalist of the ABURY Design Experience 2018. Vote for her now.

[loisbosatta]

[Who made my clothes?] Back around the world in 80 days: A journey west from village to village by a bird blouse...

Part 1: Lois

Faithful, simple, pretty, blue. Freedom doves accompanied me around the world, into daring situations and through lovely friendships.  I started this day in a village on the Italian Riviera. It was my last day working a summer job with kids so we treated ourselves to breakfast. I received board and lodging and small sum of £60 a week to enjoy my time there.

I bought this T shirt for no more than £2 in a charity shop - who knows what life it lead before me? Its label bears TU, so I can trace some of its tale…

It was made for the Spring/Summer 2012 collection in Romania (tier 1 production information), and is 100% Viscose (tier 2 production information). I also had some codes to run with, but all I could decipher was BLUE and SS12. The rest will be internal codes of timing, batch, production, quality control and shipping.

Codes: 5052767584557

4100/122682441/BLUE/30056/SS12/122683428

I found that Sainbury’s as an umbrella company are making big efforts to ‘source with integrity’ and have written extensive sustainability policies, however have not made any commitment to publish their factories and suppliers, unlike competitors at Tesco and M&S. Though founder members of the Ethical Trading Initiative in 1998 which promotes global workers’ rights, it’s not a guarantee of fair trade but an agreement of attempt.

My search was hopeful, but tracing the journey proved ticky. I started right at the source by asking TU Clothing customer service where they source their Viscose from but their answer could not have been more vague: “the fabric is sourced worldwide depending on the need”. Poor.

Viscose is 7% of all fibres consumed, behind cotton and polyester. It is a very versatile fibre, manmade but with natural sources, and is able to replicate a number of other fabrics and textures. It is made from dissolving wood pulp in caustic soda and other chemicals and then filtered and transformed into fibres and filaments. In 2012 China held 62% of Viscose production, and the USA is the largest producer and exporter of wood for pulp production.

So it is likely my t-shirt began its journey in a hardwood forest in the USA, travelling west for transformation into fibres in China, and it travels west again after that. Not to Bangladesh where Sainsbury’s were found to be breaking employment laws making school uniform for 25p/hour, but further west still as it came to Romania.

I lived in  a small city in that part of Europe for one month. Its participation in the EU makes it vastly different from its neighbour Moldova, but it still has many complex social issues and is the poorest EU country. Romania holds over 300 clothing manufacture companies. 44% of people live rurally, and there is a vast chasm of contrast between the rich and the poor, the traditions that govern some of the communities and the bustling modern tourist city of Bucharest, the Roma people’s integration, the missing parent generation, the beauty and the squalor, 30 degree summers and -15 degree winters.

Part 2: Imanuela

“I start my day in my small two-room house in a little village outside the city by waking my husband and son early and preparing a simple kasha breakfast for my mother-in-law. I am the only family member in full time employment so she helps with the housework and my husband goes to the city looking for jobs to do, even short term ones, to help with our needs. My son goes to school, and comes home to help to garden the vegetables and chickens or play football with his friends. I have to work very long hours to keep my job so that we don’t have late delivery charges, so Mami makes dinner and I eat what is left when I arrive home.

I travel 10 km to get to the factory. We make many clothes for companies all over the EU and UK. Many of my colleagues are about my age, 34, but there are women from 17 up to 70. I think they stay as long as they can, but a life of bending over a machine and staring at small stitches is not very good for the body.

I am lucky because my family have no bank loans to pay and we are able to grow our own food in our village; some of my friends have more children and cried in front of the chief for money so they can feed their children. We are supposed to be paid every month but I have received two payments in half a year which was about £60 a month, so I don’t have all of what I worked. At many factories they have to wait a long time to be paid too, so it is no different somewhere else,  but for now I have what I need.

I heard my boss say one day: ‘the poor things drop like flies’. I have seen this in the summer, when all of the machines and irons are on all day and it gets so hot inside, sometimes the women faint and get sick. The air conditioning is not strong enough for the big warehouse we work in. He knows the job is exhausting. My son likes to smoke out the flies from our vegetables. Maybe there is always someone who suffers for someone else’s gain.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INFO AND IMAGES USED IN THE DOCUMENT:

http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/discover-more/fairly-traded

http://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Viscose_fibres_Sustainability.pdf

https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/04/20/follow-thread/need-supply-chain-transparency-garment-and-footwear-industry  

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/fashion-victims-even-in-eu-garment-workers-face-tough-conditions-01-12-2016

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tesco-sainsbury-school-uniforms-made-6432539

An investigation by the Clean Clothes Campaign in 2013-2014 revealed that the average wage for a clothing factory worker there is £116pm.

SAINSBURY’S OWN POLICIES ABOUT THIS STUFF:

Sainbury’s as an umbrella company are making big efforts to ‘source with integrity’. They recognise they are ‘trusted to do the right thing’, and have written extensive sustainability policies, however have not made any commitment to publish their factories and suppliers, unlike competitors at Tesco and M&S. In fact they were founder members of the Ethical Trading Initiative in 1998 which promotes global workers’ rights. Unfortunately it’s not a guarantee of fair trade, its only signing up to say you will work towards it. The Good Shopping Guide scores them ethically (people and planet) above their supermarket competitors like George at ASDA or F&F at Tesco.

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/discover-more/our-stories/2017/standing-up-to-modern-slavery

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/~/media/Files/S/Sainsburys/documents/Sainsburys_Modern_Slavery_Statement_2016_17.pdf

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/~/media/Files/S/Sainsburys/documents/making-a-difference/Ethical%20Trading%20-%20Working%20in%20Partnership%20FINAL.pdf

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/~/media/Files/S/Sainsburys/documents/making-a-difference/Ethical%20Trading%20-%20Due%20Diligence%20FINAL.pdf

http://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/~/media/Files/S/Sainsburys/press-releases/fact-sheet-sainsburys-sustainability-standards.pdf

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/11804755/SUN-Inside-Sainsburys-fashion-clothing-empire.html

Sainsbury’s Tu brand is the UK’s seventh biggest clothing retailer by volume

The retailer uses a Coventry-based design team who work on producing “high quality at supermarket prices” and has sourcing offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Delhi and Dakar. “We only work with factories that stand up to our values,” Feather adds.

[loisbosatta]

Final Line Up #finalcollection #childrenswear #gfw2017 #wearegraduatefashion

[loisbosatta]

A photo from @officialgfw last week 🏔🏳🚶 what a cutie!! ❤ #childrenswear #finalcollection #gfw2017

[loisbosatta]

Finishing touches ✨ 👌#loisbosatta #thatsme #finalcollection #childrenswear

[loisbosatta]

Working on my last piece of the collection puzzle: the denim jacket. 👌 #details #stitch #finalcollection #childrenswear #denim #wearegraduatefashion

[loisbosatta]

Thankful for today, our AUB graduate fashion show. Loved seeing little adventurers showing off my handiwork! 🚶❤ thanks models, you were stars! #finalcollection @aubfashion #wearegraduatefashion

[loisbosatta]

M. #knitwear #childrenswear #finalcollection #aubfashion #wearegraduatefashion

[loisbosatta]

Preparing styling for the premiere showing of D A R I N G 👞🚶#converse #styling #secondhand #finalcollection #childrenswear #trims

[loisbosatta]

Celebrating reaching the end, the top, the summit! Thank God, my partner and encourager in all. 🏳🏔👑#mountains #screenprinting #childrenswear #storytelling

[loisbosatta]

P I O N E E R 💪#childrenswear #wearegraduatefashion #pioneer #storytelling #finalcollection Photo: @lydiavineyphotography

[loisbosatta]

Styling is story telling 🔥❄🏔🏳#finalcollection #pioneer #childrenswear #mountains #stormlantern #vintage Photo: @lydiavineyphotography

[loisbosatta]

Mountaineers 🏔🚶 #finalcollection #childrenswear #mountains #wearegraduatefashion Photo: @lydiavineyphotography

[loisbosatta]

#denim #details #finalcollection #childrenswear #mountains

[loisbosatta]

Another snap from the #daring collection 🗻 #finalcollection #patchwork #wearegraduatefashion #childrenswear Photo: @lydiavineyphotography

[loisbosatta]

Excited to share new photo snippets of my collection, with the news that it has been selected to show at Graduate Fashion Week! 🚶🔝🗻 Photo: @lydiavineyphotography #wearegraduatefashion #childrenswear #mountains #basecamp @officialgfw

[loisbosatta]

In the spirit of my final collection... great project here!

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J01mqggN0h8)