The High Price of Cheap Fashion

Naomi Wolf likes shopping for inexpensive fashion too, but she knows brutal labor conditions lurk behind each cheap blouse. She calls on Western women to be more aware of cheap fashion’s true cost. How do retailers like Zara and H&M keep prices so low? “By starving and oppressing Bangladeshi, Chinese, Mexican, Haitian, and other women, that’s how,” Wolf says. “We all know that cheap clothing is usually made in sweatshop conditions – and usually by women. And we know – or should know – that women in sweatshops around the world report being locked in and forbidden to use bathrooms for long periods, as well as sexual harassment, violent union-busting, and other forms of coercion.”