This reminded me of Clotheshorse - it's a podcast about how wasteful and destructive fast fashion is (and how it often masquerades as regular fashion.) The host used to work as a buyer for brands that include Urban Outfitters, ModCloth (!), and Nasty Gal. The fashion industry is definitely milking rats! And there's a district in LA they used to go to buy stuff, just like the wholesale marts you visited. Lots of knocking off small artists, too, you've likely heard about that before.
And thank you for putting a name to Kantha blankets. I saw some at a vintage show once (I don't think I ever did that one again) and I didn't know what they were, but I knew they didn't belong there.
At this point in my consumer life, if I can't find a statement telling me otherwise, I assume just about any product I see is manufactured in China or Southeast Asia. I was looking for a decent messenger bag to replace the one I've been wearing out (to and from my daily trips to Chicago's Merchandise Mart, where my office abuts) and found a promising candidate that claimed to be Chicago-based. The prices were suspiciously low for something made of genuine leather, and it took a bit of sleuthing to discover that the bags were "designed" in Chicago (Komal’s Passion Leather) and imported from overseas.
Now, I don't mind purchasing a bag made in a place like India (as this bag likely was), but you will lose points from me if I catch you trying to make me think I'm supporting the local hometown economy and factories. What would have been an instant purchase had the company been up-front with me (like the folks making leather cell-phone cases) has been delayed as I decide if I want to support this business model and advertising mode. We get it - you're likely not going to be able to source a genuine leather bag from the USA for $30 (assuming Komal has a 100% retail markup), but don't be dodgy about it.
As for the Mart itself, for folks not familiar with this very big and very odd building, when it was constructed in 1930, it was the largest building in the world. If you take a large city block and cover it completely with eighteen stories of Art Deco, you get the Mart.
Nicely done, Katherine. Learned a lot reading this.
This reminded me of Clotheshorse - it's a podcast about how wasteful and destructive fast fashion is (and how it often masquerades as regular fashion.) The host used to work as a buyer for brands that include Urban Outfitters, ModCloth (!), and Nasty Gal. The fashion industry is definitely milking rats! And there's a district in LA they used to go to buy stuff, just like the wholesale marts you visited. Lots of knocking off small artists, too, you've likely heard about that before.
And thank you for putting a name to Kantha blankets. I saw some at a vintage show once (I don't think I ever did that one again) and I didn't know what they were, but I knew they didn't belong there.
At this point in my consumer life, if I can't find a statement telling me otherwise, I assume just about any product I see is manufactured in China or Southeast Asia. I was looking for a decent messenger bag to replace the one I've been wearing out (to and from my daily trips to Chicago's Merchandise Mart, where my office abuts) and found a promising candidate that claimed to be Chicago-based. The prices were suspiciously low for something made of genuine leather, and it took a bit of sleuthing to discover that the bags were "designed" in Chicago (Komal’s Passion Leather) and imported from overseas.
Now, I don't mind purchasing a bag made in a place like India (as this bag likely was), but you will lose points from me if I catch you trying to make me think I'm supporting the local hometown economy and factories. What would have been an instant purchase had the company been up-front with me (like the folks making leather cell-phone cases) has been delayed as I decide if I want to support this business model and advertising mode. We get it - you're likely not going to be able to source a genuine leather bag from the USA for $30 (assuming Komal has a 100% retail markup), but don't be dodgy about it.
As for the Mart itself, for folks not familiar with this very big and very odd building, when it was constructed in 1930, it was the largest building in the world. If you take a large city block and cover it completely with eighteen stories of Art Deco, you get the Mart.