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Article: A STAIN ON FASHION; The Garment Industry Profits From Cheap Labor. It's Time to Mend Its Ways.
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 12, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Some have called it a shopper's high.
It's that feeling of intoxication that comes from getting a deal,
finding a sale, circumventing the system. Americans hold one quarter
of the world's purchasing power. We want quality, style and
selection. We want it cheap.
And we got it.
Pocket T-shirts for $20. Private-label turtlenecks at $9.99.
Cashmere sweaters for $99.
But the price was much higher than any of us had dared to imagine.
One of those $20 Gap T-shirts in our chest of drawers could have
been made by a Central American teenager who says she regularly
labored for 18 hours a day in a garment factory. The bargain dress on
your back might have been made by kids who couldn't go to the ...