"Worn Out: How Our Clothes Cover Up Fashion's Sins" by Alyssa Hardy ($27)
Mekita Rivas: In one part of the book, you talk about luxury, which we should touch on. Especially because logomania, I mean, I don't know that it ever really went out of fashion, to be honest. It definitely became much more of a thing in the early 2000s. And now more than ever, luxury fashion is this booming market. But what are you paying for, especially when counterfeiting is so pervasive? Is it really a worthwhile investment?
Alyssa Hardy: Look at the numbers some of these brands are making. They're making their money on belts and bags and sunglasses and shoes. Logomania is always about consumption and having that thing that looks super popular. It all leads back to consumption. With counterfeiting [of] luxury goods, they have more control of the supply chain for the most part, but because of so-called proprietary information on their designs, a lot of the time they're not disclosing these factories. So it's impossible to track whether or not they're safe for the workers. I have a chapter where I talk to somebody from Know the Chain, a company that traces supply chains within fashion. They put out reports about the worst offenders in terms of transparency. And often, it's the luxury brands that are on the top of the list.
MR: Yeah, that was surprising to me.
AH: It's not to say that the factories they're using are abusing their workers. But we live in a world [where it is] so common that, in my opinion, proprietary information is secondary to making sure the workers are paid adequately and not experiencing poor conditions or abuse by management. But they obviously have a bottom line. So to them, the secrecy is about keeping the exclusivity of the designs and the brand, which is understandable in some ways, but that's not the world we live in.
MR: Well, it's all so calculated. And when it comes to sustainability and fashion, it's become this topic du jour, because it sounds nice. But in reality, like you say, it's pretty much mostly greenwashing. We need to have actual regulations and laws in place that hold these corporations accountable. One of my biggest surprise takeaways from the book was how much subcontracting is involved in the garment-making process. Because naively, in my mind, I pictured a giant factory where everybody works. I didn't realize how piecemeal the process is.
AH: Subcontracting happens across industries. But especially in fashion, because of the lack of regulations, it is everywhere. Even the best brands cannot totally control how the subcontracted work within their supply chain. Unless they are completely vertically integrated, they are not necessarily controlling the factory they contracted to. [They'll go to] these villages of women who cannot get a good paying job because of the remoteness of where they are and pay them literal pennies to crochet something. And then we see that crochet piece at [a fast-fashion retailer], and we assume it's made on a machine. But it's made by a person who was a master of [crochet] who just was paid very little for it.
!["Worn Out: How Our Clothes Cover Up Fashion's Sins" by Alyssa Hardy ($27)
Mekita Rivas: In one part of the book, you talk about luxury, which we should touch on. Especially because logomania, I mean, I don't know that it ever really went out of fashion, to be honest. It definitely became much more of a thing in the early 2000s. And now more than ever, luxury fashion is this booming market. But what are you paying for, especially when counterfeiting is so pervasive? Is it really a worthwhile investment?
Alyssa Hardy: Look at the numbers some of these brands are making. They're making their money on belts and bags and sunglasses and shoes. Logomania is always about consumption and having that thing that looks super popular. It all leads back to consumption. With counterfeiting [of] luxury goods, they have more control of the supply chain for the most part, but because of so-called proprietary information on their designs, a lot of the time they're not disclosing these factories. So it's impossible to track whether or not they're safe for the workers. I have a chapter where I talk to somebody from Know the Chain, a company that traces supply chains within fashion. They put out reports about the worst offenders in terms of transparency. And often, it's the luxury brands that are on the top of the list.
MR: Yeah, that was surprising to me.
AH: It's not to say that the factories they're using are abusing their workers. But we live in a world [where it is] so common that, in my opinion, proprietary information is secondary to making sure the workers are paid adequately and not experiencing poor conditions or abuse by management. But they obviously have a bottom line. So to them, the secrecy is about keeping the exclusivity of the designs and the brand, which is understandable in some ways, but that's not the world we live in.
MR: Well, it's all so calculated. And when it comes to sustainability and fashion, it's become this topic du jour, because it sounds nice. But in reality, like you say, it's pretty much mostly greenwashing. We need to have actual regulations and laws in place that hold these corporations accountable. One of my biggest surprise takeaways from the book was how much subcontracting is involved in the garment-making process. Because naively, in my mind, I pictured a giant factory where everybody works. I didn't realize how piecemeal the process is.
AH: Subcontracting happens across industries. But especially in fashion, because of the lack of regulations, it is everywhere. Even the best brands cannot totally control how the subcontracted work within their supply chain. Unless they are completely vertically integrated, they are not necessarily controlling the factory they contracted to. [They'll go to] these villages of women who cannot get a good paying job because of the remoteness of where they are and pay them literal pennies to crochet something. And then we see that crochet piece at [a fast-fashion retailer], and we assume it's made on a machine. But it's made by a person who was a master of [crochet] who just was paid very little for it.](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/8isTGExDDk3rOPoPhyuxvDnA91M/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2022/09/27/986/n/1922564/2086b5bdc647581a_Worn_Out_cover_art/i/Worn-Out-How-Our-Clothes-Cover-Up-Fashion-Sins-by-Alyssa-Hardy.jpeg "\"Worn Out: How Our Clothes Cover Up Fashion's Sins\" by Alyssa Hardy ($27)
Mekita Rivas: In one part of the book, you talk about luxury, which we should touch on. Especially because logomania, I mean, I don't know that it ever really went out of fashion, to be honest. It definitely became much more of a thing in the early 2000s. And now more than ever, luxury fashion is this booming market. But what are you paying for, especially when counterfeiting is so pervasive? Is it really a worthwhile investment?
Alyssa Hardy: Look at the numbers some of these brands are making. They're making their money on belts and bags and sunglasses and shoes. Logomania is always about consumption and having that thing that looks super popular. It all leads back to consumption. With counterfeiting [of] luxury goods, they have more control of the supply chain for the most part, but because of so-called proprietary information on their designs, a lot of the time they're not disclosing these factories. So it's impossible to track whether or not they're safe for the workers. I have a chapter where I talk to somebody from Know the Chain, a company that traces supply chains within fashion. They put out reports about the worst offenders in terms of transparency. And often, it's the luxury brands that are on the top of the list.
MR: Yeah, that was surprising to me.
AH: It's not to say that the factories they're using are abusing their workers. But we live in a world [where it is] so common that, in my opinion, proprietary information is secondary to making sure the workers are paid adequately and not experiencing poor conditions or abuse by management. But they obviously have a bottom line. So to them, the secrecy is about keeping the exclusivity of the designs and the brand, which is understandable in some ways, but that's not the world we live in.
MR: Well, it's all so calculated. And when it comes to sustainability and fashion, it's become this topic du jour, because it sounds nice. But in reality, like you say, it's pretty much mostly greenwashing. We need to have actual regulations and laws in place that hold these corporations accountable. One of my biggest surprise takeaways from the book was how much subcontracting is involved in the garment-making process. Because naively, in my mind, I pictured a giant factory where everybody works. I didn't realize how piecemeal the process is.
AH: Subcontracting happens across industries. But especially in fashion, because of the lack of regulations, it is everywhere. Even the best brands cannot totally control how the subcontracted work within their supply chain. Unless they are completely vertically integrated, they are not necessarily controlling the factory they contracted to. [They'll go to] these villages of women who cannot get a good paying job because of the remoteness of where they are and pay them literal pennies to crochet something. And then we see that crochet piece at [a fast-fashion retailer], and we assume it's made on a machine. But it's made by a person who was a master of [crochet] who just was paid very little for it.")
