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I, along with two of my closest friends, am sitting at a table for three in a popular fast food joint in Delhi. There is not much of a crowd at the moment- partly because outside, a scorching heat-wave is running wild. There is a shout from behind the counter, indicating that our order is ready. One of my friends jumps to his feet and rushes off to fetch the tray. When he returns, a fifteen, maybe sixteen year old boy walks in through the door, dressed immaculately in an Adidas T-shirt.
"Pity," I say to both my companions, "that these people blindly follow the trend."
They look at me questioningly. Taking a large bite of my sandwich, I explain to them what I have found out in the past week, through some very immature journalism and some very coercive interrogation of my classmates. After having recently read a book on the various allegations of human rights abuses by major international brands, I decide to try and find out if there is any regret in the minds of those who wear branded clothes in my class.
Early Monday morning I find myself blandly asking 16 year old Nikhil, "Do you wear brands?" He considers for a moment before conveying that he wears only branded jeans and shoes. No good Indian brands, he says, make good basketball shoes. I consult my questionnaire. "Right." I say. "Are you aware of any criminal allegations against these multi-national brands?" This time the answer comes fast. "No." I ask him what his reaction would be if I told him these brands he's wearing manufacture their products by exploiting workers of the third world and violating various human rights. "I don't know?" he thinks for a moment. "I suppose I would stop buying their products because I'd have a guilty conscience."
Three years ago, I coached tennis twice a week - practicing my backhands, bringing more life into my forehands and trying to keep the ball within the lines. After a few months of coaching, I was approached by the head coach who informed me that I would not be allowed to play anymore unless I went and bought proper shoes. And where would I get these "proper shoes"? How much would they cost? He suggested I go to a sports shop and ask them for tennis shoes. The shoes I was asked to buy cost 5000 rubles, and unable to afford 5000-buck shoes, I dropped out of coaching the next week.
In the corridor of my classroom, I see Ankita, another 16 year old classmate, coming my way. Quickly picking up the notepad I had been carrying around all day, I put to her the same questions I asked Nikhil. Without hesitation she replies that she does wear branded clothes. Why? "They last longer." Has she, I implore, heard of any allegations against these companies? No she hasn't. Before trotting off into class she says that she will probably not stop buying the clothes she buys even if she had that knowledge? It would take some thought.
Everyone I talked to (some of whom walked off when I told them I wanted to quote them for an article) was unaware of the charges of inhumane behaviour against these multi-nationals. A lot of them refused to believe me when I said that the clothes on their bodies are produced by teenage girls in countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia or the Philippines. Sweatshops are a figment of the imagination which un-cool people like me use to tell off the "in" crowd. In this world of teenage fashion what really matters is how good you look. The primary need is expensive clothes, a knockout perfume and an invisible tag on your head that reads - "permanent coolness." The one person I met who was aware of the existence of sweatshops, thought that it was perfectly justified for them to "provide employment" to these workers who would otherwise be roaming the streets out of work.
"Do you wear branded clothes?" I ask in a somewhat tedious tone.
"No." She says.
I stop writing abruptly and give her a questioning glance. "No?"
"I'm against all multi-nationals."
It turns out that there is one other person who is aware of reality, or as everyone else puts it, "reality." She says that there is something wrong with all major multi-national corporations - right from Coke to Nike. "They conceal information about the work environment." All right. What else? "I'd prefer to patronize Indian companies." She goes on. "Coke and Pepsi dump all their empty bottles in the third world without providing chemicals to treat them with." Perhaps all is not lost, I think. "I," she finishes, "don't want to be thought of as one of the brand wearing people."
There are a couple of shops in a shopping complex a few blocks from my school, that sell exclusively branded products, from bags to caps. "The average age of our customers," the owner informs me, "is 12 to 18? About the time they begin to get brand conscious." Brand conscious teenagers buy (I peep at the price tags) shirts for rubles. 1200 because it is decorated by the Nike swoosh? They spend 850 bucks on wristbands because Adidas or Reebok manufactures them? The shoes they buy cannot possibly cost - I turn the label around – 4500 rs. "They spend anywhere from 150 to 5000 in one go." The owner looks at me blankly blandly. If everything has a price, then coolness is certainly not cheap.
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Comments
great article! aclam | Sep 29th, 2003
I like this: "an invisible tag on your head that reads - "permanent coolness." :)
Have you read "No Logo" by Naomi Klein?
Wow! Brian Kitchens | Jan 25th, 2004
After reading this I am reminded of myself at your age (I'm 31) when I was a college journalist. I stopped wearing brands long ago (except for Levi jeans!) when I started becoming aware of the things you speak of in your article. I'm afraid that in the U.S. I am a sad minority. The corporate media ($$$) is really in charge here. That's actually why I didn't pursue juornalism as a career. I just didn't have the stomach for it.
Thoughtful article sean jayasekara | Mar 2nd, 2004
It certainly reflects how i have been feeling for the past few years. I have slowly eased myself off labelled clothes and I dont drink coca cola but I still eat regularly in Mc Donalds (coz its cheap!).
It seems the grasp of the multinationals is difficult to escape from!
the visible is invisible Cara McDavid | Aug 22nd, 2006
Good article, I think that here in North America, being branded is something that we take for granted, it's just a part of thte lanscape now, although we lament about the big-name multi-nationals, we refuse to see the impact our purchases make on the larger global stage, great piece
Krystal Payne | Aug 22nd, 2006
this is an interesting piece, especially the end twist. it is amazing how we take brands for granted everywhere now.
Chelsea Lam | Sep 28th, 2007
I love your article, but recently in class I watched a video about branding. Some people that are making the clothes said that they loved it, since there's income coming. I know that this isn't the case for everybody, but what kind od clothes don't have brands noaways??
Muqing Zhou | Jan 7th, 2008
I agree with Chelsea - this piece is nice, especially with the insight at the end, but sadly there is only a small proportion of the clothing manufacturing industry nowadays that produce non-sweatshop clothing (branded or non branded). And non-sweatshop clothing is usually produced in developed countries if I'm not mistaken, so such products are potentially taking money away from people who would perhaps need it more in less developed countries... a real dilemma!
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