Made in China

[Icanttakethisanymore]

I was looking at a Reiss coat in the sale today. It's from their Atelier collection, 90% wool, 10% cashmere, it was lovely. It was £695 full price with almost 50% off... I was tempted. Then I looked at the label again and it's made in China.

It's this one - https://www.reiss.com/style/su338658/e11074 (sold out online but they had some in the store I was in today)

Would this bother you? My DP is big on where things are made and massively objects to paying a lot of money for something which hasn't been made in a jurisdiction with decent workers rights etc. he thinks it's greedy.

Is he (I presume he, could be wrong) Also bothered when it comes to his tech? Phone computers etc?
Only you can decide where you want to spend your money.
Your ethics your choice

Of course - I am just interested in other peoples views. He doesn't control my spending 😂

Tech is a little different because you don't really have a choice (no-one makes phones in the EU) but obviously some clothing brands choose to manufacture in higher cost jurisdictions and some don't. I wondered if it was something anyone else took any notice of really.

China doesn't have human rights. Workers don't have workers rights. They have gas mining there where miners are forced back into dangerous mines and killed.

Factories release chemicals into the water and whole villages have cancer and deformed children because their only water supply is contaminated.

The government are currently in the midst of ethnic cleansing a minority and using them for slave labour. Children work in factories.

The reason we get so many goods from China and they are so cheap, is because they don't have labour laws and they employ children.

This is my point - Does it stop you buying things made there?

Yes. I try and buy ethically. I used to buy a lot of my clothes from a British company that had factories in the UK but now use factories in countries with poor human rights records. I need to buy elsewhere.

I do what I can.

Yes it stops me. There are several well known clothing brands I really like including Reiss but I only buy them second hand now for this reason. As a family we are trying to reduce how much we buy from China so when we replaced our oven and microwave last year we deliberately chose products not made in China and also made as close to home as we could afford.

I was quite disappointed that £695 (full price) didn’t get me a coat not made in China.

That's capitalism for you. Marks and Spencer used to have pure wool jumpers that would last a lifetime, made in the UK. Now it's shoddy polyester made in Vietnam for the same price.

Brora?
My point was you choose how you spend your money.
I think about what I buy and who gets my money.

I don’t buy many clothes but I do try and buy very good quality things which will last (and aren’t too trendy l) when I do. My DP buys a lot of stuff from a site called Community Clothing because it’s made in the UK but I don’t like their woman’s stuff.

Can you recommend any brands you tend to go for?

Ooooo / lovely jumpers, thank you 🙏

Here you go.

shop.fairphone.com/about-us

I know a few people have moved over to these but looks like they're made in china - albeit not in a sweatshop.

I do agree with tech it's much harder to shop ethically.

Woolovers? They have a pledge of sustainability

I try and buy british, but failing that I definitely avoid china

This coat is £681. It's made from tweed woven in Scotland. The coat is made in England and sold by an independent shop in London. Personally I think it's a nicer looking coat as well. The Reiss one looks like a generic Max Mara rip off.

Colenimo coat

Or this from Plumo. Cheaper than Reiss and made in UK.

Plumo Coat

Nokia phones are made in Europe. I was shocked at the issues tin mining causes in China and the fact people have died mining for it and other parts required for tech.

@Icanttakethisanymore
I've bought Community Clothing and was disappointed: a Breton shirt that shrank and some jeans which although they fitted well had a crease in the wrong place. I should have returned them.
I might give them another go. They are reasonably priced, and as you say, made in the uk.

I've bought some cracking boots lately which are made in the UK - some Solovairs and some Lanx. But excellent quality and styling

Solovair are lovely , DMs are now made in China Vietnam Thailand and a smaller range in tht UK at a higher price point.

I try to avoid anything made in China. I have been doing this for quite a few years now. It's not easy but I keep on trying. I would rather do without than buy something made in China.

I am not sure about Nokia phones being made in Europe. Someone I know bought one last year and the box definitely said it was made in China.

It's complicated.

There are many real horrors in China, no truly independent civil society or human rights, the political and economic climate has been getting worse in recent years, and there is no obvious turning point in sight.

And yet. Making cheap stuff for the West in China, often sweatshop conditions, has lifted more people out of poverty, faster, than anything else in the history of humanity every has. Since 1978, hundreds of millions of Chinese have chosen that path willingly, because it was better than the grinding rural poverty that was their only choice before. Just a few short generations later, China has a large middle-class population, in middle and high skill industries, and some of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world (I don't know where Reiss falls on the scale). Western brands have been a big factor in improving conditions (though there is still plenty of abuse too, especially in long, opaque supply chains), and China's economy is much more balanced now than it was then. Cost is not usually China's main advantage any more.

I think avoiding Xinjiang cotton is right (direct slave labour), and pressing Western brands to scrutinse their supply chains is right. But a blanket boycott is far too blunt a tool. If it were ever seriously effective it would almost certainly make life worse for many millions more people than it helped. If it had been there from the start, China would be in a far worse position than it is now, with far worse rights and conditions even than we see now. The conditions we see now as the worst excesses might still be the norm, as they were pre-opening.

Since 2023 they are all made in europe according to Google

If I’m totally honest, it’s not just ethical reasons I don’t buy from China. I am concerned about the loss of British and European manufacturing and skills, and the way we’re just handing China economic power so that we can have cheap stuff.

As someone who had sourced suppliers (not clothings but I do also know someone who did) from China before, I can assure some of you, the working conditions I found in the manufacturers there were plenty good enough. Somewhat fluent in Mandarin, I spoke to some of the workers who told me how their lives had improved by leaving their village and having "great" jobs in their factories.
Don't suppose India, Vietnam or other low cost suppliers have better working conditions / worker's rights simply because they are a democracy, hearsay is a dangerous game.
If you really really care where your clothes come from, there are tailors in the UK who can make anything for you with cloth weaved in the UK/Europe. Our mothers / grand mothers often make all their own clothes so it isn't beyond the realm of possibility to try make your own. (Yes, I can make clothes, even coats but I did have to pay a teacher and spent many hours to learn the craft - it's a hobby that actually save money in the long run. A 100% Cashmere jacket can be made for less than £100 if you know where to buy the material).