Bangladesh

Where do you even start?

It housed numerous garment factories, and the death toll from the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh on April 24th has since risen past 900. On Wednesday, eight more people died in a fire at another garment factory in Bangladesh.

None of the brands covered here were sourcing from the factories associated with these two most recent incidents. But does that even matter? At all? Plenty (GAP, Target, etc.) have suppliers in Bangladesh. Pretty sure we’ve all seen “made in Bangladesh” on a tag before. And there have been accidents in the past.

Do you take a retailer’s social responsibility policies to heart? Does any brand that imports most if not all of their clothing know their own supply chains?

80% of Bangladesh’s export income comes from the garment industry. Will you stop buying clothes that say “Made in Bangladesh” on them? If the garment industry pulls out as a whole (of course they won’t) will there be unintended consequences?

Would you work for a company that sources clothing from Bangladesh?

Does it matter if you don’t view a purchase as “disposable”, but instead as an investment, no matter where it’s made?

What do you want this website to cover and not cover? A premium is placed on well made goods, and “Made in the USA” or “Made in Italy” seems to get lots of play. Will the garment industry ever come back on a large scale to the United States?

And where and under what working conditions was the computer or smartphone that you’re on right now manufactured?

Thanks in advance for keeping this discussion respectful, civil, and rational.