Fast fashion retailer Missguided just started selling a bikini for ONLY ONE POUND!
The sales blurb on the bikini actually claims to be celebrating “empowering women”
Sure – to some, this may seem like a bargain. There’s no denying it is cheap.
Missguided? Yes! we think it is criminally cheap.
Fast fashion companies such as Missguided are notorious for their constant efforts to drive all of their costs down. For manufacturers in developing countries, this means driving down their costs – and hence their conditions – to attract and keep business. This directly leads to disasters such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
If a garment is to be sold for only £1 ($1.27 US), the garment workers are likely to get paid no more than £0.20 for each set (according to an average costing for garment manufacture). The official minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh, for example, is around £25 a month. In reality though, the wages are often around half of that for those who work around 100 hours a week in appalling conditions.
The retailer doesn’t seem to see the hypocrisy in the fact that the product description actually makes mind-blowing claims that this bikini is celebrating “empowering women”!
Missguided’s £1 bikini is available in sizes 4-24 – Credit: Missguided
Not only is Missguided guilty of exploiting garment workers, it is also amongst the least sustainable brands in the UK. It is widely understood Missguided and its fast fashion buddies are promoting overconsumption and increasing their carbon footprint with a focus solely on its products costs dirt cheap.
This product is cheap, but you get what you pay for. This – like all fast fashion products – is not designed to last a long time. Thousands of these bikinis will undoubtedly end up in landfills and oceans in no time.
At The Eco Desk, we believe in conscious consumption – buying less, buying ethical, and LOVING everything that you own for how it looks and for its impact.
