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Impactt were fascinated to read about a three-day factory simulation conducted by 22 fashion design and marketing students at Northumbria University last week.  In a move reminiscent of last year’s TV phenomenon Blood Sweat and T-shirts, the students experienced factory working conditions by setting up sewing lines and using time cards to clock on at 8am for an eight-hour shift.The experiment was the brainchild of Professor Doug Miller, Inditex/ International Textiles Garment and Leather Workers Federation(ITGLWF) Chair in Ethical Fashion, formerly research director with the ITGLWF. Professor Miller stated:

 ”Most of our graduates will either set up their own businesses or work in a fashion or retail company, so it is important to equip them with knowledge of the ethical issues that they will have to grapple with. If they set up their own businesses and outsource production, they will have to think of the conditions people making the goods will be working in. Some will be buyers for retail chains, but buyers often don’t think of the conditions of workers when negotiating a price for garments. In the current economic crisis, people are going to be looking for bargains, but the vast majority of workers producing this clothing are not on a living wage…. If the students leave Northumbria University with an understanding of how the prices they negotiate will impact on suppliers and workers’ wages … they are more likely to become an ethical buyer or business owner.”

As part of the experience, students heard from fashion industry professionals about their experiences working in factories, learnt about the technical processes of production and spoke to Bangladeshi women who have worked in the Bangladeshi garment industry.

Impactt applaud this innovative teaching experiment and hope that the students’ experiences will remain with them as they enter the fashion industry as the designers, buyers and sourcing directors of the future.