In Australian homes, sewing is a dying art. At age ten, I received a beautiful dress with coloured hearts, sewn carefully for my measurements by my grandmother. I wore it for four days straight. Reflecting on that fact alone makes me realise how disposable our wardrobes have become.
These days, a metre of fabric costs more than a hastily assembled garment purchased at K-mart, so I don't sew my own clothes. I am far from alone in this.
But of course, such convenience and affordability has a well-documented dark side. It is embodied in the flourishing of exploitation in the garment industry.
Australian retailers compete to seek the lowest common denominator when sourcing clothing, and an ever-increasing demand for 'fast fashion' means Bangladesh, a country that pays some of the lowest wages in the world, is a cheap option.
A few days ago (24 November 2015) marked three years since the Tazreen Fashions factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that left over 100 garment workers dead.
Just six months later, the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka tumbled down, and 1134 people were killed. Labels for top brands such as Inditex, H&M, Benetton and more were found in the rubble.
A single pair of jeans at these stores in Australia can cost up to twice what Bangladeshi women working in the factory are paid in a month.
International pressure led to many companies signing onto a fire and safety agreement and, later, a 77 per cent wage rise. Yet this has paradoxically caused more exploitation. Managers of the factories increased quotas to coincide with the rise, and now, mostly young female workers are expected to sew up to 140 collars onto garments in one hour.
Jasmine Sultana, whose testimony is recorded on the globallabourrights.org, was one of the workers who was on deck the day of the Rana Plaza collapse. She escaped death, but was permanently disabled:
'On 24 of April I was working on the sewing machine. An hour after starting time, the factory building came crashing in. Like other colleagues, I was trying to get out using the stairs. But I fell down. An iron bar hit my back hard ... I was released from the hospital on 30 April, but I still can't walk straight as I feel pain in my back. I need further medical care.'
Since the Rana Plaza collapse, there has been more scrutiny by international labour organisations. Baptist World Aid has produced a comprehensive report