Sweatshops

I worked at GAP for three years and we had a case out against us around a year ago about sweatshops. Apparently- they found a sweatshop making gap shirts or something. We had a few (nasty) comments from customers, but GAP jumped on the case and quickly made it disappear. Anyway, point being that YES it is the companies fault that sweatshops are around. I believe American clothing should be manufacture in America. However, there are so many complaints about how much things cost now, if we had to pay American workers to work in factories, the price of the item would go up. In a perfect world sweatshops would not exist. However, sometimes (despite working conditions) it is beneficial to the people working in them. If it were not for that job, they would not be making money anywhere else because their country is too poor and there are not any jobs to get.

Fashion: Art or Usability

I think that runway fashion is more of an art form than usability. For the most part, everyday people do not wear runway fashion. However, the ready-to-wear lines that are wearable/usable. You could also argue that style or fashion is an art statement. A lot of people dress to get a certain kind of attention and make a statement. Therefore, I believe that fashion is BOTH an art form and usability.

Issues facing the Fashion Industry

There are many issues facing the Fashion Industry today. For one, the state the economy is in, decreases retail sales nationwide. Also, because of the same reason, even many high end designers refuse to put on elaborate fashion shows. Designers such as Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson pulled out of the New York Fashion week and decided to do a small show. Vera Wang put her line on display at one of her boutiques in New York City. Also, many chain retailers are struggling to make their sales goals, which in turn does not give their employees the hours they need. Hopefully things will soon turn around in the economy, as well as the Fashion Industry!