Oh my what a thought provoking can of worms. I missed this lecture due to illness and kicking myself.
This lesson looks so important to me in the way I think,design and work in my future. The more I read about people getting ripped off , the more I am determined to safeguard my own work and look into the whole 9 yards(not materiel haha) of this issue.
My first thought was, well I make my own clothes so that's not a problem, till you realize that the very fabric your using is most probably mass produced in appalling overseas conditions, and the fabric fiber has been produced in exactly the same way. Workers are paid PENNIES an hour and and often work 19 hour shifts locked into there factory.
This video brings home the problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKsJcRI_Bu0
As consumers it is possible to trace back the food that we eat, where it comes from, if it is meat how it was reared. there is a closely examined chain from farm to plate. Especially if the food is produced in the uk. (Coughs here and whispers beef).
It seems to be a bigger problem when we look to overseas imported goods when the problems and low business ethics seem to come into play.
What we need is a more transparent and accountable legislative process that enables clarity, and heavy penalties for abusive businesses.
May be we just need to get British manufacturing back to a standard that enables us to be able source goods from home.
May be advertising should be fair and just as we have the British lamb campaign, we could also have the British wool campaign.
It is probably going to take fundamental changes in both consumer education and industry/business working practice to achieve anything.
But one thing is for sure, as humanity places further pressure on all our existing resources and with the ever advancing need for everyone to go green, advancements in textile manufacturing and technology will be needed.
