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The £35 fashion box that’s saving Bangladeshi garment workers from destitution

dhaka bangladesh fast fashion - MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images
dhaka bangladesh fast fashion - MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images

When it comes to fast fashion, we all plead guilty in one way or another — it might be the polka dot Zara dress or quilted Bottega Veneta style heels at Topshop. Our cheap thrills are undoubtedly problematic, but the abrupt halt of production and cancelled orders due to the coronavirus pandemic has created an alternative issue.

With shops around the world shuttered and spending taking a nosedive, we have all gone cold turkey on a toxic industry, but what has happened to all the clothes that have already been produced? And how much has actually been created? £1.6 billion of orders have been cancelled by retailers. This means that there is an enormous backlog of clothing and a human crisis among garment workers.

The fast fashion domino effect has hit Bangladesh the hardest, where garment manufacturing accounts for 84% of export income in the country. The aftermath of Covid-19 has left employees more vulnerable than ever, suddenly out of work with little prospect of being able to support their families.

Now a new initiative is promising a way for us to finally feel good about fast fashion by directly saving the livelihoods of factory workers with our purchase.

Mallzee, an Edinburgh-based tech company that calls itself Tinder for fashion (matching you with what you want without browsing hundreds of pages) has partnered with the SAJIDA Foundation, a Bangladeshi NGO to buy the unused stock and then sell them in an eco-cardboard box  for £35.

Each package contains at least three items of clothing worth around £70. The items are likely to come from unwanted stock from retailers including  Topshop and Gap, but labels will have been removed before customers receive them.

While you may not be able to dictate each individual item being sent to you, there is an option to choose your preference for gender, size, age and what kind of styles you prefer in terms of colour palettes and prints. There’s also an option to gift a box to a friend or family member for £38.99.

"Cancelled orders have affected over 1000 factories and the lives of 2.27 million workers and their families. A recent study found that 47% of these workers now have no income - we are working to deliver them basic necessities,” Muhymin Chowdhury, the Head of Challenge Fund & Fundraising for SAJIDA Foundation, said in a press release.

For each box sold, 9% is attributed to the Mallzee team with other costs such as transaction charges, product costs, transport, logistics and postage being charged, which leaves the SAJIDA with 37%-  or £22.05 - for food and hygiene packages for Bangladeshi families for one week.

In the long run this doesn’t solve the issue of fast fashion production or poverty in Bangladesh, but it is a short term solution and a unique chance to buy high street and feel genuinely good about it. The goal for Lost Stock is to help 100,000 Bangladeshis by the end of 2020, but how long will this go on for? A Lost Stock representative said, “As long as there is both demand and stock.”

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