Fashion Revolution began in the aftermath of a tragedy. Five years ago in Dahka, Bangladesh, a five story building full of garment workers collapsed and killed over a thousand people and injured 2,500. Shortly before the collapse, cracks appeared in the walls and other tenants evacuated. Yet, workers were ordered back inside after voicing their concerns.

As Rana Plaza manufactured clothing for Western retailers, this shed light on the serious problems in the industry and unheard voices of downtrodden and underpaid garment workers. Which begs the question...

Who makes your clothes and what kind of lives do they have?

As an American run factory operating in Honduras, we are #raisingthestandard for garment workers and are very excited to introduce you to some of our team!

Teresa works in the development department and can sew an entire garment. She began working at Standard Apparel roughly two years ago and has consequently gained a better understanding of many different sewing operations. Our factory utilizes both modular & linear sewing lines for maximum flexibility. Modular sewing lines involve a group of workers who do one or more operations to finish a garment. This ensures that the workers are educated on all different kinds of operations, giving them versatile skills while also providing quick response for the customer.

Since working here, Teresa’s quality of life and happiness have improved. The work environment allows her to earn a living wage while improving her skills, and thus raising confidence. Teresa is currently working on pocket tees that are comprised of 15 different operations.

Jose came to us a little over a year ago after working as a supermarket clerk. He did not receive any benefits working at the market. Working with us, he can afford to keep his kids in school and has purchased land to build his family a house! He loves to play with his kids and watch soccer.

Currently, Jose is in charge of attaching tape (a kind of interlining) to the pockets which helps them keep their shape.

Gladys studied sewing in school and loves it so much that she even does sewing projects at home in her free time! Like Jose, she is using her better than average garment worker salary to build a home for her family.

As part of our cut and sew team, Gladys sews the side seams of the shirts by matching fronts and backs of shirts with the right sides together.

Sonia enjoys working at Standard Apparel for our peaceful work environment. As a single mother, her income allows her to send her children to school and raise them with confidence.

Sonia enjoys helping her kids with homework and spending time with them.

She works on the pocket t-shirts to hem the sleeves and construct the shoulder seams. These are attached to the completed torso of the shirt, which looks like a tube of fabric before sleeves are attached.