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9th Grade
Artist Statement
I created this dress to confront the unacceptable treatment, conditions, and wages of garment factory workers. The dress is made to have two halves; a split personality: the front is the shiny façade of the clothing industry, what the average consumer sees, while the back reveals the more sinister inner workings. Workers have abysmal wages and are sometimes in buildings that are unstable or difficult to escape in the case of an emergency. And this issue is not exclusive to other countries – factories like this exist in America, too. Take, for example, these Los Angeles factories, in one of which workers are payed a mere 51 cents for each tank top they sew.
Everyone deserves to have a job where they can earn a living wage and not unnecessarily risk their safety. It is sickening to know that the main reason the fashion industry does not consistently provide this is because we as consumers treat our clothes as disposable items. That is why I chose to dedicate my Recycled Runway outfit to this subject.
In my research of garment factories, certain images stuck out to me and became inspiration for elements of the outfit. The strips of tattered fabric on the back skirt were made to resemble the huge bales formed of clothes that are discarded and given to thrift stores and charities but ultimately end up unused because of the massive quantity of garments that are thrown out in America and other first-world countries. Even though many of these items are perfectly wearable or could easily be mended, it is of such little consequence to give them away and just say “I’ll buy a new one” that they end up rejected anyway.
The black net veil on the mask hides the face, symbolic of the unnamed, faceless garment workers who bear the cost of consumerism in the fashion industry and the demand for cheap, disposable clothes. It also resembles the veils sometimes worn during mourning, a sign of remembrance for the thousands of workers who have died in accidents because the factories are too often poorly built and unsafe.
Lastly, I included the convicting words, “Who pays the price?” - a question posed to the viewer asking them to consider the result of consumer demand for quantity rather than quality, and more personally to consider their own choices regarding clothing. How could a simple change in the way we view clothes have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people?
Everyone deserves to have a job where they can earn a living wage and not unnecessarily risk their safety. It is sickening to know that the main reason the fashion industry does not consistently provide this is because we as consumers treat our clothes as disposable items. That is why I chose to dedicate my Recycled Runway outfit to this subject.
In my research of garment factories, certain images stuck out to me and became inspiration for elements of the outfit. The strips of tattered fabric on the back skirt were made to resemble the huge bales formed of clothes that are discarded and given to thrift stores and charities but ultimately end up unused because of the massive quantity of garments that are thrown out in America and other first-world countries. Even though many of these items are perfectly wearable or could easily be mended, it is of such little consequence to give them away and just say “I’ll buy a new one” that they end up rejected anyway.
The black net veil on the mask hides the face, symbolic of the unnamed, faceless garment workers who bear the cost of consumerism in the fashion industry and the demand for cheap, disposable clothes. It also resembles the veils sometimes worn during mourning, a sign of remembrance for the thousands of workers who have died in accidents because the factories are too often poorly built and unsafe.
Lastly, I included the convicting words, “Who pays the price?” - a question posed to the viewer asking them to consider the result of consumer demand for quantity rather than quality, and more personally to consider their own choices regarding clothing. How could a simple change in the way we view clothes have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people?