Cheap as chips
May 30th, 2007 by Katie
Weddings can be an expensive business, can’t they? So it would seem a welcome turn of events when major retailers announce, as they did recently, that they can kit out you and your partner for under £200 with The Dress coming in at as little as £60.
Some designers of course were up in arms - how can a bride feel good walking down the aisle in a cheap dress?
Well, if you check out this blog regularly you’ll probably have guessed what’s coming and that the issue that concerns me is not the lack of a designer label!
You can’t help but wonder what the real cost of this cut price product is. Did the person who put it together get a fair living wage or did they have to sacrifice this luxury for the sake of a best selling bridal bargain?
The answer is: I simply don’t know.
When I contacted M&S recently to ask about ‘the sustainability of the fabrics in the new bridal range and about the working conditions and wages of those who create it’ hoping for an enthusiastic response given their recent support for fair trade and all things green, they simply responded that they were not in a position to disclose information about the suppliers of any of their products.
This was a little disappointing although they did point me towards their Global Sourcing Principles (which I eventually found under the ‘Corporate’ section of their website), stating that any new suppliers had to pass audits on key issues such as underage labour, pay, working hours and health and safety.
M&S came under Labour Behind the Label’s ‘Could do better’ group. Companies who gave them mixed responses, ‘which indicated some consideration and decent steps in some areas, but didn’t deal substantively with others or were too vague to be sure about‘.
Asda, owned by American giant Wal-Mart (’Always low prices!’ declares its website), is the other high profile proponent of bargain bin bridalwear and is next on my list to contact. They fall into the group below M&S in Labour Behind the Label’s categories:
‘Resting on their laurels: While these companies have previously taken some steps to address working conditions, including joining the ETI, their responses and case histories suggest that they are more interested in ticking the right boxes to stave off criticism than they are in achieving actual results for their workers. By and large they don’t seem to accept the seriousness of problems regarding wages and freedom of association’
I’ll be interested to receive their response - maybe you could drop them a line too and let us know what they say?
Retailers are eager to extol the virtues of their new fair trade range but if this approach doesn’t extend to the rest of the business then it’s not really much more than cheap PR - especially when, and I speak from personal experience, the fair trade items in question are rather tricky to find!
Labour Behind the Label investigated high street retailers’ practices in 2006 and it is worth checking out their findings to see who the worst offenders are and who is trying (no shining halos on the high street I’m afraid!).
But if you really want ethical and cheap, maybe it’s easiest to stick to charity shop chic!
Take care,
Katie
For the latest ethical wedding tips, chat, articles and more, free to your inbox, sign up to the monthly Ethical Weddings Newsletter
UPDATE: I’ve just found out that there is a Labour Behind the Label event taking place this Monday 4 June at 7pm in London at the Transport and General Workers Union, 128 Theobald’s Road, Holborn, WCIX 8TN.
Bagging a Bargain: Cambodian workers speak out
Labour Behind the Label invites you to find out the real price of high-street fashion from Cambodian ex-garment workers and trade unionists. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the realities of working conditions in the fashion industry and explore what we can do to improve the lives of the people making our clothes. Find out more