fashion case studies

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bangladesh

Garment factory in Bangladesh (photo: Andy Flannagan)

Tearfund’s Youth Team travelled to Bangladesh to visit garment factories in the capital city, Dhaka, meeting with factory managers and workers alike.

Download Bangladesh garment industry case study

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rokye

Rokye stitching diamente beads onto the '315' jacket (photo: Andy Flannagan)

Rokye sits cross-legged, bare footed, on top of a long bench, close to lots of other workers all repeating the same action. He looks uncomfortable, hunched over a denim jacket, sewing on diamante beads – one by one by one. 315 times in fact, to create the '315' jacket.

Download Rokye case study

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craft aid

Naidu, a Craft Aid employee

Craft Aid is a Tearcraft partner based in Mauritius. Craft Aid’s way of trading puts people before profits. Its main aim is to provide paid employment for disabled people, offering a living wage and a safe and healthy working environment.

Download Craft Aid case study

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jeans journey

Piles of jeans in garment factory (photo: Andy Flannagan)

Just where does all the money go when you buy clothes? There are plenty of people who end up getting their hands on the cash you shell out for a pair of jeans. Find out the typical journey of a pair of jeans.

Download Jeans journey case study

Shima case study

Name: Shima

Age: 17

Job: Punching buttonholes in jeans and jackets.

Background:

Shima left school at the age of 13, not because she wanted to but because of ‘poverty in my family’. Even though she was just a child, Shima needed to support her family and earn some money so came to the city from a rural area to find work.
She started working in a clothes factory in Dhaka city and has been there for three years.

Wage paid:
She earns around 1700 Taka per month (around £4.00 per week). She says her pay is ‘not enough’ to live on. She finds life difficult.

‘This wage is not enough to have good food on, or to be able to afford to go out in town after work to relax.’

Working hours:
Working hours are from 8am to eight or nine at night, six days a week.

Working conditions:
The factory is hot with no working fans. There is no fire equipment on the stairs and there is a lot of rubbish on window ledges because there are no bins.

Living conditions:
Most workers like Shima simply sleep when they go home as they have no time left in the day for anything else.

The slum area where Shima lives is a very dangerous place to be at night – theft and rape are common. Shockingly, 31 garment workers were raped in one month due to women walking home late at night from factories to their homes in the slums. Many of the workers simply can’t afford public transport because their pay is so low.

View this case study as a pdf