Online Descriptions.

I keep having the same conversations. OVER. AND OVER. 

So I felt compelled to write a slightly more chatty post. 

I recently read this on the Business of Fashion so maybe this spurred it. Or maybe it was the difficulty a number or friends and family had with buying me gifts for my recent birthday which has had me repeatedly have this conversation. Whatever it is, we all need to be talking about it more and making it happen. Forcing change.

Bless the friends and family, they tried, even picking out products I had linked in old posts on The Mibber, which turned out to be made in China. It's okay if you've got so big you've had to outsource to cope with demand. It's OK. But when you claim to manufactured in the UK for X number of years and you celebrate British craftsmanship. It beyond frustrates me. Equally recently, I had a blunder with a dress I had bought which had stated it was MIB in the description and when I received it was actually made in Romania.

What frustrates me the most is how the majority of garments sold in the UK, state their provenance in the care label. And so I struggle to understand WHY if this information is available on the garment WHY it can't be included in the garments online description. Of course no manufacturer/brand selling in the UK is legally obligated to state this information. But I believe if they feel obliged to include it in the care label, they should include it in the online description. 

The "MIB movement" is growing. More people care about where stuff comes from. And to those that do care, at least they can make a slightly more informed decision. Would someone who really only cared about the latest look honestly question whether to buy a garment made in Bangladesh, probably not. So whats the harm about being transparent about where things are made. I'm not trying to say brands are trying to hide this information, or that they have something to hide, maybe they unanimously decided at the start of the internet - people didn't care enough. But now I feel like enough people really do care.

Foreign factories aren't inherently bad, one disaster taints the whole country the backbone of their economy, and whilst there are very dark and murky areas of fashion manufacture still, a lot of brands are doing a lot to bring up the quality of the factories in these 'bad' countries of origins. So they should be shouting and be promoting this. Some COOs are more technologically advanced, cater to more specific skill sets, it's not about reshoring every industry. It's not about boycotting. It's about more consumers being more open to education. Some manufacturers are better than others at producing higher quality of goods, treating their staff fairly, creating safe working environments. Why shouldn't we, as consumers demand the best in all of these issues at a fair and honest price regardless of where it was made? It shouldn't be assumed that something made in Y means it was made in horrid conditions. Is this what brands are afraid of? A retaliation of poor assumptions? 

Whilst I don't buy British because of manufacturing conditions - it is obviously becoming increasingly a contributing factor to my decision making process. Instead I buy British based on the economy, supporting the small factories and brands trying to do it here. I know how much minimum wage amounts to. I know we have strict health and safety legislation. I know the brands I'm buying from. To some extent I even know some of the factories and studios and people making the garments and products. There is traceable transparency in what I buy made in Britain. And since I started MIBing this had become very important to me.

I can't avoid online shopping with my niche of shopping. The high-street, in particular my high-street, is yet to recover from the recession, there are barely any indies in my local town. And that is why I so appreciate the smaller brands proud of what and where they make. I just think it's time we call about the big ones. I'm not asking for Honest By type transparency, not at all. Although extremely informative and even interesting to discover the extent they are willing divulge their manufacturing process. All I ask, is that if you make it, anywhere, you say you made it there. All the information on the care label should be shared in an online description. 

There are big brands out there that are stating which things are 'Made in Britain' but I'm sure this is just to emphasis their own good PR. Even more brands are 'backing British'. But equally there are more big brands which don't say anything at all. I think it would be better practice to just say where everything is made. And whilst I'm not totally naive to believe that product online labelling will change all the woes of manufacture - it's a bloody big step in the right direction. Maybe even the first ripple.

What do you think about online descriptions? Can it really be as simple as if it's on the garment: it's in the description box?

I'd love to know your thoughts. And these are just mine!

Andrea x