Denim manufacturing causes slave labor and contributes to climate change. Despite countless complaints, the industry continues its outdated practices and increases its production and sales around the globe. Sweatshop labor in Asian factories is a taboo subject that few brands want to address. It’s always been the subject of controversy and most fashion companies prefer to avoid the subject. Allegations that minors were working in the factories that make clothes for major brands in places like India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh have led the main groups with a global presence to tighten controls in recent decades. The first problem a company encounters when carrying out supply chain evaluations is identifying its suppliers. Inditex, for example, has more than 7,000. These companies manufacture, for example, the embroidery on shirts, the studs on handbags, or the linings of coats, to cite a few examples. Since its inception, Outland Denim has strived to combat the vague outlines and greenwashing practices that go on in the fashion industry all too often, and even knows the name of each of its 750 Cambodian seamstresses, who’ve benefited from stable employment with Outland Denim to date.
Founded by James Bartle in 2011, the Australian brand has since become renowned in the fashion world for its “denim essentials” and is worn by celebrities such as Meghan Markle. In the early days, the brand started out as a platform for victims of sexual exploitation, enabling women to rebuild their lives by granting them safe and dignified working conditions. In addition to enhancing the lives of its employees, Outland Denim also uses organic cotton that is certified GOTS for its products and its dyes are Bluesign® certified, ensuring that harmful substances are eliminated at each step of the supply chain.
James Bartle How Does Outland Denim Support its Employees? Outland Denim has forged a sustainable career path by forging its four pillars that are based on training, education, fair wages, and access to opportunities. As a certified B Corp company, Outland denim has a lasting positive impact on the lives of its staff, helping them to thrive in their communities. Outland Denim has built relationships on a personal level, and it views them as partners in the business in creating its denim products. Its seamstresses are trained in each and every aspect of the denim-making process over a period of two to three years. Staff undergoes a training course so they can gain valuable knowledge in cutting, finishing, and sewing. Many seamstresses even go on to excel further and achieve managing positions. Going beyond the staff, Outland Denim ensures that its entire supply chain practices are free from modern-day slavery and abuse by strictly working with suppliers who meet its rigorous criteria for the treatment of people, animals, and the environment. The brand works with global stakeholders from universities, government bodies, to even the UN Global Compact Network to bring about industry-wide change in fashion supply chains.