Non-Sweatshop companies?

Can we group all these companies in the first post and make it a sticky or par of a wiki or something of that order? (maybe grouped with other similar threads to save some space). That's the kind of thing I'd check pefore purchasing.

Originally Posted by beezteez123

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Nudies

+1

the more expensive italian brands(armani for example) actually produce in italy, but there is surely more about this in the mc forum

Originally Posted by crush

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the more expensive italian brands(armani for example) actually produce in italy, but there is surely more about this in the mc forum

Not everything made by Armani is made in Italy…as well; it’s not an ‘expensive’ Italian brand.

Jon.

Have all the Levi's plants in Canada closed? I'd heard they were scheduled to be closed a year or so ago, but never heard if they actually closed.

Also, don't buy any converse products... I am not sure about the John Varvatos... but everything else is made in Kathy Lee style nike sweat shops.

Originally Posted by robbie

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Have all the Levi's plants in Canada closed?
yes. Mexico has the only North American factories. Some of the Capital E and LVC are done in San Francisco, of course, but that's about it.

Anymore .. what about woman's stuff?


Cheers

Originally Posted by TyCooN

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What about Rag & Bone? All their stuff is made in America.

WRONG

They used to be when thread was created, has since turned to doodoo.

Was just stating for current accuracy Didn't realize TFK had bumped this old of a thread.

ToJ

Interesting how this is important to so many here! Does only supporting labor in the Western world (plus perhaps Japan) make you feel like you're a better person? Or is there also a belief that paying attention to this results in you getting a better quality product too?

Several of the MADE IN USA labels mentioned in this thread (e.g. Wrath Arcane) actually have worse construction quality than many MADE IN CHINA labels I've handled (e.g. Rag & Bone). And I've seen some terrible quality MADE IN ITALY pieces. I have even seen a couple MADE IN JAPAN pieces from DBSS that had terrible quality, while that same label's MADE IN CHINA pieces have all been fine.

Also how do you know what the labor conditions are like in each of these factories? What if you're boycotting the best factory in China while patronizing the worst factory in USA? Since it is unrealistic to judge factories in China today using Western standards, shouldn't you encourage the best and discourage the worst?

Obviously basing decisions using a MADE IN XXX label is not overly effective and accomplishes little beyond self gratification. That is, either feeling good about yourself for being socially responsible (the popular measure of a "good" person today) or elitism directed against Chinese made goods (e.g. Jet's attitude).

^TBH I think a lot of this mentality has to do with people thinking that a larger portion of things made in China have bad quality compared to Made in USA goods......

Ex. 7 out of 10 things made in China will have bad quality as opposed to only 3 out of 10 in USA. <Just pulling those numbers out of ******, just making an example.

Originally Posted by BB1

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Interesting how this is important to so many here! Does only supporting labor in the Western world (plus perhaps Japan) make you feel like you're a better person? Or is there also a belief that paying attention to this results in you getting a better quality product too?

Several of the MADE IN USA labels mentioned in this thread (e.g. Wrath Arcane) actually have worse construction quality than many MADE IN CHINA labels I've handled (e.g. Rag & Bone). And I've seen some terrible quality MADE IN ITALY pieces. I have even seen a couple MADE IN JAPAN pieces from DBSS that had terrible quality, while that same label's MADE IN CHINA pieces have all been fine.

Also how do you know what the labor conditions are like in each of these factories? What if you're boycotting the best factory in China while patronizing the worst factory in USA? Since it is unrealistic to judge factories in China today using Western standards, shouldn't you encourage the best and discourage the worst?

Obviously basing decisions using a MADE IN XXX label is not overly effective and accomplishes little beyond self gratification. That is, either feeling good about yourself for being socially responsible (the popular measure of a "good" person today) or elitism directed against Chinese made goods (e.g. Jet's attitude).

hmm ... one may feel disclined to buy made-in-X products because of
(i) quality concerns,
(ii) social concerns (labor conditions in X, supporting domestic industry)
(iii) classism ("I don't want to be mistaken for made-in-X-buying lower-class fat Americans", "I don't want to associate with X's lower beings")
or any combination of these factors. in the case of China my suspicion is that though they may not openly admit it many are motivated largely (or at least, significantly enough to be the decisive factor in a lot of cases) by (iii) - in which case simply arguing against (i) and (ii) (as you did) without also arguing against classism would not be effective in terms of changing the attitudes. (this is not to say that being motivated by classicism-racism-countryism-or-whatever-you-call-it is good or bad; i'm not taking a stand on that)

i still remember this post a while back: "picked [a r&b shirt] up for $70 on sale, then came home and saw the "Made in China" tag which left a bitter taste in my mouth." ... i thought it interesting/revealing because my made-in-portugal shoes have never left me with a 'bitter taste' despite me knowing them to be of inferior quality than my italian shoes and i have a hard time imagining something genuinly leaving me with a 'bitter taste' just because I have a vague suspicion that it wasn't made under good labor practices.

Originally Posted by crush

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the more expensive italian brands(armani for example) actually produce in italy
From what I've seen, only their most expensive and exclusive lines are produced in Italy, e.g. 'Giorgio Armani'. Pretty much everything else is made in China and similar e.g. 'Emporio Armani', 'Armani Collezioni' and 'Armani Jeans'. Many other famous luxury designer brands which have multiple lines are no better here either, e.g. Paul Smith and Ralph Lauren.