Made in ?

[Faust]

I found this interesting. Could kick off a good discussion on perceptions of origins, provenance, quality, perceived v. real, etc.

From WWD

Italian Industry Irked by Labeling Decision

By Cynthia Martens


DISAPPOINTED: The label Made in Italy elicits pride from Milan to Palermo, and many Italian fashion and design leaders have long hoped for greater recognition of locally made products. It is not surprising then, that reacting to the European Commission’s dismissal of proposals to require explicit “made in” labels for all products coming into the EU, Michele Tronconi, president of fashion industry association Sistema Moda Italia, said he was “profoundly disappointed” by the decision.

“It affects me even more, because it couldn’t arrive at a worse time, with the textile and fashion industry struggling every day to get out from under the economic crisis and the decline in European consumption,” Tronconi said.

He lambasted the EU Commission for paying little attention to European workers, and for “promoting opaqueness and masochism instead of transparency and efficient regulations.”

The EU Commission’s decision came after years of convoluted discussion over appropriate regulation measures for imports.

[lowrey]

I'm not familiar with the proposal; what do they mean by "explicit" labelling..?

[Faust]

I guess they are saying that "Made in China" no longer has to be on the labels of goods made in China. As opposed to Prada goods that are 90% made in China but can have a Made in Italy label ;-)

I guess they are saying that "Made in China" is automatic negative branding, and getting rid of that will benefit sales of Chinese-manufactured goods.

[sam_tem]

granted i'm not familiar with the details of port entry and receiving, but requiring made in xxx labels for every single item entering a country certainly sounds costly and a set-up for disaster.

didn't read the article but i could certainly imagine this would require higher port fees that would have to be picked up by the companies in order for labels to be certified and verifiable. wouldn't think it's the best of times for a country like Italy to be making it more expensive for companies to ship items in and higher port fees would hurt small businesses the most. not saying it's not a good idea, i'd certainly add to the list, but it would be nowhere near the top. without knowing the details of cost and feasibility i certainly don't like the idea of it.

i just figure that the vast majority of folks that take that stuff seriously are knowledgeable enough to know. i think most people know many things only say "made in usa" because they were designed here and offshored somewhere else for the production. then again, small and young companies can't afford to produce domestically so if they didn't offshore it then many of them simply wouldn't exist anyways.

edit: i guess that's another thing to, when we we think of offshoring jobs we tend to only think of the vast corporations with sweatshops across the world and forget that for many smaller companies throughout different industries it's simply the only option for survival.

[Faust]

My buddy used to work for these Hasidim Jews in Red Hook, taking out "Made in China" labels from sheet sets and putting in "Made in Italy."

[zamb]

My buddy used to work for these Hasidim Jews in Red Hook, taking out "Made in China" labels from sheet sets and putting in "Made in Italy."

this is a very common thing....happens all the time,
I know of a place here in NYC, where its not sheets, but designer knock offs.......

the whole thing is crazy, and it won't go away anytime soon

[bernieee]

i was quite shocked when i seen this as well, a local designer had put tags made in germany when it was manufactured in its entirety in toronto.

[J_J]

^ for some it's not really a question of quality and distrust towards the possibility of well-made products in China, but of the sweatshop labor which was included in that production. Since in the West the working conditions are under higher regulations than in China and many other countries, buying products made e.g. in EU helps one know they aren't supporting the sweatshops. Of course, it's also nice to buy from manufacturers who guarantee that their workers in the East have decent conditions and are well payed for their jobs, but that kind of information is rarely available.

Unfortunately sweatshops exist in EU as well.
It is well-known (in italy) that Prato (Florence) has a huge concentration of Chinese immigrant workers, and raids on illegal sweatshops that have people crammed together in horrifying conditions are frequent.

[Faust]

Yes, these cases exist everywhere, in New York too. Just keep the scale in mind.

[Rosenrot]

^ wow really? can you maybe link to some articles on that issue? i'd be interested to learn more.

Have you read De-Luxe by Dana Thomas? I believe she touched on that in her book, IIRC.

[J_J]

I have seen these stories mostly on TV but I did a quick search and found this:

http://www.corriere.it/cronache/12_febbraio_22/fabbrica-tessile-prato-cinesi-schiavi_f7fbee5a-5daa-11e1-8d58-29f34aaed5a4.shtml

It is in Italian, but in the video they point out how the workers sleep in the factories and how there are babies and children sleeping in cold warehouses that stink of solvents and fumes.
On top of the fridges and cabinets they found surfaces coated in adhesive to trap rats.