Bit of an exposé...
(Well, I say that, but this is news to me- not really ACTUAL news. This isn't an exclusive or anything; just to be clear. I haven't quite developed my investigative journalism skills enough to land myself a "scoop" as of yet.)
So, last week, during my normal evening ritual of scouring the internet for interesting information at Hermit HQ (my new flat, aptly named by @Jon_Digital), I came across some interesting information regarding everyone's favourite hipster shopping spot... Urban Outfitters. More specifically, some interesting information regarding where your money goes when you buy that pair of pastel high-waisted denim shorts you've been 'lusting' over 'for, like, ever!'. And, in true exposé style, it's not good news...
Know who this is?
No? Good. You're not meant to. Turns out, this is Richard Hayne, president and founder of UO.
Know who this is?
No? YOU SHOULD. This is none other than that ultra right-wing conservative Senator Rick Santorum. You know... the one who is ridiculously anti-abortion and is trying to make sure gay rights are a thing of the past??
Let's get a small insight into his views by using a direct quote then:
“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything,”
GOOD. YES... Homosexuality equates to incest, polygamy, and adultery. Nice one.
You run into your local Urban Outfitters, Free People or Anthropologie and scope out the newest arrivals. Oh! That jacket you’ve been longing for sits on the wall, its perfect fabric drifting slightly as a result of the A/C unit above. You walk towards it, take it down from its rack, and hold it close look at the size. It’s the last one in the store, and sold out online… This is your one chance. You lift the tag – perfect, you whisper. You try it on, it fits like a glove. You rush to the cash register and throw your change down on the counter, much to the dismay of the 19 year old kid behind the counter, purple-haired and full of facial piercings. You don’t care – the jacket is yours. You run home to covet the jacket while the cashier delicately places the money in the register while muttering incoherantly about what a total bitch you are.
He ends up taking a fraction of your jacket’s sale price in his paycheck. Another fraction goes to the store’s rent. Another to the manager (that bitch is so overpaid…). Another to the garment makers in whatever random foreign countries the jacket is made in (don’t even get me started…). The rest trickles up to our dear friend Richard Hayne. Where does it go after that? Ricky decides, my friends, and we all know he has a penchant for gay-hating senators…
So, that money you'd been saving for those pastel high-waisted denim shorts? Yeah, it's gone to fund extreme right-wing politics.
Furthermore, reading this comical scenario got me thinking, and I put my research cap on for a bit... I decided I wanted to know more about the manufacturing of Urban Outfitter's products. This previous paragraph, specifically, the part which read "Another to the garment makers in whatever foreign countries the jacket is made in (don't even get me started...)", made me think.
Ok, I'll be honest, I didn't really rate the post, I found it overly sarcastic and antagonistic, and I wanted to prove that they were making things up to make the situation sound worse...
They weren't. I was wrong.
In FACT, Richard Haynes himself, openly admits the dire situation that is their product manufaction...
Here's an extract from an article carried out by Philidelphia Weekly:
While on the topic of uncomfortable questions, PW raises the other issue that dogs Urban Outfitters: the allegation the company relies on sweatshop labor to manufacture its apparel, generating its massive profit margin on the backs of the Third World poor. Check the labels on most of the clothing hanging in an Urban Outfitters store and you'll find that many say "MADE IN TURKEY," "MADE IN INDIA" or "MADE IN SRI LANKA."
Yes, says Hayne, nearly all of Urban Outfitters' apparel is manufactured in Third World sewing shops--just like nearly all of the clothing sold in this country. If Urban Outfitters relied on domestic union labor, says Hayne, most of his customers could not afford the price he would have to charge to turn a profit. All things being relative, he says, Urban Outfitters does not contract with any sewing shops that are overtly inhumane or exploitive.
"Years ago I visited one of the factories we work with in India, and there was 500 people standing in a line three people deep stretching around the building," he recalls. "I said to the foreman, 'What's going on?' He told me they were all applicants for the four positions they had open. I toured that facility and it was reasonably clean--for India. And it was reasonably well-lit--again, for India. And yes, it was mostly young women working there. But it is my understanding that the only other option those women had to feed their families was selling their bodies. So I don't want to hear people from the suburbs with their fat American stomachs telling people in other countries how to run their societies."
At this point--about two hours into the interview--Hayne pauses and, with barely contained irritation, says, "I guess I should have asked this before I agreed to this interview--what is your angle?"
Again, GOOD (generally when I said 'GOOD', it's sarcastic, in case you haven't noticed).
And if this all wasn't enough, we're all aware of their copying allegations, are we not? UO have a long history of ripping off independent artists.
In fact, the list of 'errors' of UOs behalf, is massive. Here's a short timeline for you....
- In December 2008, UO pulled shirts bearing the legend “I Support Same Sex Marriage” from shelves in its California stores, citing poor sales and bad press as the reason. However, when the designer Tara Littman went to look for the “bad press” she could find no more than one detrimental blog post regarding the shirt.
- In January 2010, Urban Outfitters sold a shirt with two color listings: white/charcoal and obama/black (!):
- In June 2010, UO pulled an “I Heart Destination” necklace line from its online store after jewellery designed Stevie Koerner maintained that it had been copied from her “World/United States of Love” necklace line.
Left:Stevie Koerner
Right: Urban Outfitters
- In March 2012, UO was the object of protests from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocated for selling a greeting card featuring a joke about transvestism.
(Well, I say that, but this is news to me- not really ACTUAL news. This isn't an exclusive or anything; just to be clear. I haven't quite developed my investigative journalism skills enough to land myself a "scoop" as of yet.)
So, last week, during my normal evening ritual of scouring the internet for interesting information at Hermit HQ (my new flat, aptly named by @Jon_Digital), I came across some interesting information regarding everyone's favourite hipster shopping spot... Urban Outfitters. More specifically, some interesting information regarding where your money goes when you buy that pair of pastel high-waisted denim shorts you've been 'lusting' over 'for, like, ever!'. And, in true exposé style, it's not good news...
Know who this is?
No? Good. You're not meant to. Turns out, this is Richard Hayne, president and founder of UO.
Know who this is?
No? YOU SHOULD. This is none other than that ultra right-wing conservative Senator Rick Santorum. You know... the one who is ridiculously anti-abortion and is trying to make sure gay rights are a thing of the past??
Let's get a small insight into his views by using a direct quote then:
“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything,”
GOOD. YES... Homosexuality equates to incest, polygamy, and adultery. Nice one.
In any case, the connection between these two? Richard Haynes, over the years, has contributed OVER $13,000 to Santorum’s campaign and Political Action Committee.
Some ethical blog posted this little scenario to sum it up, and although I didn't really rate the style of the post as a whole, this made me laugh...
He ends up taking a fraction of your jacket’s sale price in his paycheck. Another fraction goes to the store’s rent. Another to the manager (that bitch is so overpaid…). Another to the garment makers in whatever random foreign countries the jacket is made in (don’t even get me started…). The rest trickles up to our dear friend Richard Hayne. Where does it go after that? Ricky decides, my friends, and we all know he has a penchant for gay-hating senators…
So, that money you'd been saving for those pastel high-waisted denim shorts? Yeah, it's gone to fund extreme right-wing politics.
Furthermore, reading this comical scenario got me thinking, and I put my research cap on for a bit... I decided I wanted to know more about the manufacturing of Urban Outfitter's products. This previous paragraph, specifically, the part which read "Another to the garment makers in whatever foreign countries the jacket is made in (don't even get me started...)", made me think.
Ok, I'll be honest, I didn't really rate the post, I found it overly sarcastic and antagonistic, and I wanted to prove that they were making things up to make the situation sound worse...
They weren't. I was wrong.
In FACT, Richard Haynes himself, openly admits the dire situation that is their product manufaction...
Here's an extract from an article carried out by Philidelphia Weekly:
While on the topic of uncomfortable questions, PW raises the other issue that dogs Urban Outfitters: the allegation the company relies on sweatshop labor to manufacture its apparel, generating its massive profit margin on the backs of the Third World poor. Check the labels on most of the clothing hanging in an Urban Outfitters store and you'll find that many say "MADE IN TURKEY," "MADE IN INDIA" or "MADE IN SRI LANKA."
Yes, says Hayne, nearly all of Urban Outfitters' apparel is manufactured in Third World sewing shops--just like nearly all of the clothing sold in this country. If Urban Outfitters relied on domestic union labor, says Hayne, most of his customers could not afford the price he would have to charge to turn a profit. All things being relative, he says, Urban Outfitters does not contract with any sewing shops that are overtly inhumane or exploitive.
"Years ago I visited one of the factories we work with in India, and there was 500 people standing in a line three people deep stretching around the building," he recalls. "I said to the foreman, 'What's going on?' He told me they were all applicants for the four positions they had open. I toured that facility and it was reasonably clean--for India. And it was reasonably well-lit--again, for India. And yes, it was mostly young women working there. But it is my understanding that the only other option those women had to feed their families was selling their bodies. So I don't want to hear people from the suburbs with their fat American stomachs telling people in other countries how to run their societies."
At this point--about two hours into the interview--Hayne pauses and, with barely contained irritation, says, "I guess I should have asked this before I agreed to this interview--what is your angle?"
Again, GOOD (generally when I said 'GOOD', it's sarcastic, in case you haven't noticed).
And if this all wasn't enough, we're all aware of their copying allegations, are we not? UO have a long history of ripping off independent artists.
In fact, the list of 'errors' of UOs behalf, is massive. Here's a short timeline for you....
- In December 2008, UO pulled shirts bearing the legend “I Support Same Sex Marriage” from shelves in its California stores, citing poor sales and bad press as the reason. However, when the designer Tara Littman went to look for the “bad press” she could find no more than one detrimental blog post regarding the shirt.
- In January 2010, Urban Outfitters sold a shirt with two color listings: white/charcoal and obama/black (!):
- In June 2010, UO pulled an “I Heart Destination” necklace line from its online store after jewellery designed Stevie Koerner maintained that it had been copied from her “World/United States of Love” necklace line.
Right: Urban Outfitters
- In March 2012, UO was the object of protests from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocated for selling a greeting card featuring a joke about transvestism.
- In June 2012, an UO shirt bearing the legend “Eat Less” was pulled from its online store shortly after its release over controvery that it promoted eating disorders and negative body image.
So, in conclusion, despite their slacker aura and carefully calibrated antiestablishmentarian cachet, Urban Outfitters Inc. is in fact a very Establishment, hypercapitalist multinational retail concern, with racist, sexist, plagiaristic, and homophobic ideologies.
Now, I know, there is corruption and sneaky extreme right-wing politicians lurking behing every multinational corporation. So why am I focusing solely on Urban Outfitters...?
IT'S THE HYPOCRISY. The irony of them pretending to be so liberal, when their founding principles are so extremely conservative. It's a farce!
And the fact that EVERYONE is obsessed with them now.
Plus, this is pretty bad.
I'll be honest with you, I'm being a bit obnoxious. I'm taking a certain amount of smugness from feeling smarter than all the 'liberal' scenesters who shop obsessively at Urban Outfitters... I feel as though I have uncovered a secret weapon to use when the next hipster collars me to show me their 'really rad' new pair of printed plimsoles. I will be able to shatter their illusions of fashion revolt with a flourish of intellectual prowess.... Ok, so I lost myself a bit there... Too far.
In any case, I can't say if this will stop me shopping at Urban Outfitters. Actually, I haven't shopped there for a while anyway. Generally the pretentiously 'cool' attitude that seems to surround UO has put me off (I don't even like telling people my clothes are from there if they ask), and also, I find it overpriced for the quality. But that's just my opinion. I'm not overly gutted by these revelations. I think they've gone the same way as Topshop; charging silly money for basics, and trying too hard to be too cool and getting it wrong a lot of the time.
Some might say I'm just not cool enough to shop there anymore....
But, whatever! I don't want to put money into such a corrupt company anyway! Screw you hipsters!
One nil to obnoxious Lucie.
I'll let you guys make up your own mind anyway. Perhaps you could let me know if this changes the way you think about Urban Outfitters as a company? I would be interested to know if these kinds of corruption revelations actually make a different to you and your consumerist habits? I don't know if perhaps I would actually just turn a blind eye to the facts if there was a dress I really liked...? Just being honest.
L.
