Laura Whitmore has been announced as a ‘Primark Cares Ambassador’.
For those not familiar with Laura she is an Irish TV personality, Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, influencer, radio host, and author. She comes across as being very down to earth, intelligent, relatable and funny...it’s easy to see why Primark would partner with her for their brand.
What does this role mean? From what I can gather it is a partnership that involves a journey of sustainable fashion being made accessible to everyone - not just the privileged few who can afford to make better clothing choices. It’s about shopping responsibly without having to worry about the cost. The fashion industry is after all notoriously snobby. Purchasing a designer piece of clothing does not mean you are purchasing an ethical and sustainable garment - far from it.
However, the fact that Primark sells a￡2.50 T-shirt on their website is troubling. From my experience as an Assistant Buyer for a large fast fashion brand it was my responsibility to shave off as little as 5p or 10p from the cost price in order to achieve the margin that the company was aiming for. No thought was given to the factory or garment workers to ascertain how this would impact them. Factories operate on razor thin margins as it is but this wasn’t a consideration - it was all about the retailer’s bottom line.
When you consider all of the elements that go into a retail price - the profit for the retailer alone generally makes up more than 50% - you are then left with costs for logistics, factory’s profit, overheads, operations, production, fabric, trims, packaging… and of course the all too often forgotten garment workers.
According to the movie ‘True Cost,’ roughly 85% of garment workers are female. These women are making hundreds of garments daily, being paid poverty wages and working in unsafe conditions. Add to this long working hours and one can see that they are easily being exploited, because they come from parts of the world where they have no protections and little rights. They have no access to government support and no social safety nets. They can’t leave a bad employer; they have no voice. They are not in a position to make better choices for themselves and their families.
According to the Primark website they say that the welfare of the people that make their garments matter to them and they ‘expect’ factories to pay a fair wage and working conditions to be safe. There is a Primark Code of Conduct on their website and the factories they work with are vetted to internationally-recognised standards as set out in the code of conduct. The conduct covers (amongst others) working conditions and wages. Factories are required to commit to meeting these standards in order to work with Primark. A copy of this can be found on the retailers website.
Still, we are seeing in the news more and more stories of workers rights not being met or human rights abuses taking place. Considerably more transparency AND accountability is needed here if there is going to be change. I hope Laura asks these questions during the course of her partnership with Primark over the next year.
Does this mean Primark are switching their business model from one that is profit driven and relies on overconsumption, to one that is all encompassing - helping people and the planet - and backing this up with accountability?
Laura did say this was going to be a long process. This is absolutely true as this is about dismantling systems involving modern day slavery. In the UK there is something called the ‘Modern Day Slavery Act 2015’ and its aim is to tackle human trafficking and modern day slavery. Under the terms of the act any business with an annual turnover of more than £ 36 million is required to publish an annual statement highlighting the measures they are taking to ensure modern day slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within its supply chains. You can see on Primark's website their annual statements since 2016.
Sustainability as a topic is expansive and complex and no industry is perfect. Imperfect action is better than no action, so maybe this is a move in the right direction? I would love for everyone to have access to sustainable products. On this we would agree. A consumer purchasing a £2.50 t-shirt from Primark though isn’t making a sustainable choice.
My hope would be for this to be the start of something more positive for all of those that work within the fashion industry’s supply chain and also consumers who buy the end product. I just can’t comprehend how Primark can be both sustainable and fast fashion - it’s a contradiction in terms...The essence of their business is consumption! I guess the next 12 months will tell...
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