Ethical Manufacturing Is on the Rise in China

Because it’s not all doom-and-gloom in the fashion space, Fast Company just published an in-depth piece about the rise of ethical manufacturing in China.

As consumers have grown more conscious about where their clothes come from, there’s been a wave of Western fashion startups — like Les Lunes, Everlane, Grana, and more — that are dedicated to providing ethically-made goods at competitive (read: Chinese-made) price-points.

And that’s led to an increase in Chinese factories that, according to the story, “pay workers fairly, offer pleasant working conditions and reasonable hours, and produce beautifully crafted clothes, shoes, and accessories.”

As I’m sure most of our readers already know, Chinese factories have a long-standing, well-earned bad rap when it comes to factory labor standards (Ivanka Trump’s company, the article notes, makes clothes in a factory that “compels employees to work 57 hours weekly” for the generous salary of $62 a week), but even in Shenzhen, a province notorious for deplorable factory conditions, “the culture in apparel factories is beginning to change.”

In fact, according to the China Labor Bulletin (based in Hong Kong), “working conditions have been on an upward trajectory” across the country.

Unfortunately, the article notes, the boom in ethical manufacturing in China doesn’t appear to “signal a global trend. Increasingly, Chinese companies are themselves seeking out cheap labor in other parts of Asia and the rest of the world, perpetuating the standards that once ruled in Shenzhen.”

Can’t win ’em all, I guess

You can read more about it at Fast Company.

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