No Sweat X

By Robert Esposito
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]

Sweatshops are the bane of impoverished countries around the
world, and despite loud opposition and a horrible rap, companies
continue to exploit workers from “abroad” (a sweatshop
euphemism).

This apparent lack of sweatshop-free active wear is what
inspired Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream to start
SweatX, the first fully domestic, fully sweatshop-free active wear
company. When Cohen sold Ben & Jerry’s a few years ago,
one of his stipulations was that $1 million be set aside in a fund
called the Hot Fudge Venture Fund.

“Business has a responsibility to give back to the
community,” said Cohen in a statement released by SweatX.
“If a company was willing to make an investment in
labor-saving automation and machinery, that would make the people
who work in the garment industry more productive.”

“It would be possible to pay them a livable wage, give
them full benefits and good working conditions,” he
continued.

SweatX, which is based in Los Angeles, is the first of these
socially conscious ventures, so named because the high quality
active wear is all produced in America at wages 10 percent above
the livable wage ordinance from Los Angeles city code. That
includes health benefits and pension.

“Clothes with a conscience” is the mantra that was
reiterated in many different ways at the SweatX Web site and in
advertisements. With a brand-new 13,000-square-foot factory, SweatX
claims that they set the standard for cleanliness and convenience
through thousands of dollars of improvements.

“The inspector for the garment contract came in and was so
impressed that she asked if she could bring other contractors by as
a way to demonstrate model garment factories,” said Scott
Reed, director of consumer organizing and community affairs at
SweatX.

More importantly than the workspace, SweatX is the vehicle for
an entirely unique business model based on private investment and
worker-oriented decision-making.

“The major difference (between SweatX and other brands) is
that we pay our workers a livable wage,” Reed said.

“I don’t know of any apparel manufacturer that can
make anywhere close to that claim,” he added.

The company makes use of a cooperative structure in which each
worker is given stock in the company and a vote in its decisions.
In addition, all of the workers are independently unionized.

“When we put this company together, Ben Cohen looked at
the dilemma of sweatshops in L.A.,” said Bob Meissner,
director of sales and marketing for SweatX. “Besides paying
people livable wages and benefits, they are also given voting
rights.”

As to the quality of the clothes (classified as “casual
active wear”), Meissner says that by using as low as 20
skilled workers to produce the clothing, SweatX actually allows for
better quality of materials and designs.

“We are trying to build a better T-shirt or fleece or mesh
by improving the quality of our design,” said
Meissner. “We have used more unique embellishments by
using 3-D images and high quality dyes, etc.”

But the average consumer is most concerned with price and
styling, not the cleanliness of the factory or the conditions of
the workers who sewed the clothes together. But since SweatX is
less out to make a killing than to prove that a worker-oriented
business model is possible, they have tried to keep prices
affordable with T-shirts and hooded pull-overs ranging from $5 to
$20.

“We’re not selling night club dance wear, but for
things that fall into the casual active wear category, you’re
going to see some pretty bitchin’ styling,” said
Reed.

SweatX knows that its best bet is to target young minds, such as
college students, because they usually have bigger social
consciences and are willing to make a statement with what they
wear.

“One piece of information that did come up is that 90
universities have activist groups against sweatshops,” said
Meissner. “When there is such an interest in anti-sweatshops,
it only makes sense to start attacking the problem from
there.”

And to those who are politically motivated, SweatX would like to
characterize itself as a kind of anti-sweatshop
proposition. Thus, “voting” against sweatshops is
equivalent to withholding money from the large apparel companies
and giving them to socially responsible ones.

In the end, this venture is not as concerned with high fashion
as substituting actions for words.

“It’s a tough road to go, but it’s time that
consumers start asking some of the hard questions about where their
clothes were made, especially because alternatives are now starting
to become available,” Reed said.

To find out more about these “clothes with a conscience,"
visit the SweatX Web site at www.sweatx.net