The New York Times has some advice for people with ripped garments: don’t do it.
“A lot of the clothing you see is very cheap, but it’s a lot of trouble to put it back together again,” the paper’s senior editor and editor-at-large, Maggie Gallagher, wrote in an essay for The Times, published on Wednesday.
“It’s not like it was stolen.
You can’t buy it, you can’t find it.
So you can be quite certain it’s not from a thief, and it’s unlikely you’ll be found.”
The paper, which has a history of reporting on the plight of garment-makers and garment industry workers, has published several times on the issue.
In 2015, it ran a story headlined “I’m not a thief: A story of life after garment”, which described how garment-making workers and their families are increasingly facing exploitation and neglect in Bangladesh, which is home to about two-thirds of the world’s garment-made garments.
A year earlier, it published a piece titled “My garment, my life”.
“We can all feel like we’re missing out on the opportunity to have a positive impact on the garment industry,” the article’s author, Emma Lutier, said at the time.
Gallagher, a former fashion model and writer, added that the garment-maker’s own industry has also suffered. “
We don’t get to be part of a story that makes a difference.”
Gallagher, a former fashion model and writer, added that the garment-maker’s own industry has also suffered.
“The garment industry’s not exactly doing well, but there are a lot more people working in it,” she wrote.
“For me, that’s a real problem because, even if I were working in a garment factory, I wouldn’t have that opportunity to make something I love.”
The article also said there was a stigma surrounding garment-wrangling, which Gallagher said was exacerbated by the “toxic” way that the industry is structured.
“Some people will tell you you can make a great product, but if you’re working in one of these factories, you’ll never be able to tell a human being ‘I’ve made this,'” she said.
“They’ll only tell you ‘You can make it better, and you’ll probably make more money.'”
Gallagher also highlighted the plight and difficulties of garment workers in Bangladesh.
“I am a woman and I work for a woman,” she said, “and I work in a country where women are treated like cattle.
We’re treated like animals, and that’s something I really struggle with.”
The piece, which she said was written after a recent conversation with an activist in her own factory, was published as part of an initiative to raise awareness about the issue, which will also include a video that is expected to be aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday.