4.03.2009

Guilt Free Clothing

I recently sent an e-mail to the organizer of the INDIEana Handicraft Exchange to make sure it was alright to add a few items to what I plan to sell at the show. She suggested that if it would be clothing, to make sure the clothing I am altering was not made in a sweatshop. So, I found that the brand that the cute little shirts I got are Carter's. I searched through the internet for a bit to see if I could find this company on any list of 'offenders' for having their products made in a sweatshop and/or by children. I couldn't find anything, so I went straight to the source. I sent Carter's an e-mail asking where their clothing is made, and could they assure me that the clothes aren't made in sweatshops. Their response:

Dear Katie,


Thank you for emailing us. Carter's has an active social compliance function that regularly audits the factories we contract with. We do not own any of these factories, but we do review the audit results of all factories we contract with. We also ask that these factories comply with the legal requirements set by their governments.


Thank you,

Mary

Consumer Affairs

Carter's / Oshkosh B'Gosh


Nice. Not only did they avoid telling me where the clothes are made, the only regulations they have for the production of these clothes are made by these mystery countries. Sounds a little fishy to me. And if a company did have clothing made fairly, I think they would take pride in this and give a much less vague response.

1 comment:

Tommy said...

Nice! Gotta love big business.