Oreo modeling one of the galleys I received in the mail from Wiley yesterday.
A galley is an uncorrected proof of a book that’s sent to people for endorsements and other stuff. I’m not sure what the other stuff is. I’m new to all of this. I’ll let you know when I find out.
This particular galley has a first chapter that’s probably going to get chopped to hell and a few facts that were a bit off, including one that was about $160 billion off (oops!).
Congrats on your book!! It sounds great and I plan to order it for my 14-year-old 9th-grader. He’s doing a research project at school right now that’s right up your alley: he has to choose a piece of clothing and investigate its origin. He chose a pair of Mossimo shorts from Target. We’ve found out some interesting (interesting in a sort of horrifying way…) things, but aren’t having much luck researching the production chain, from cotton growing (& polyester harvesting?) to factory to the good old U.S.A.
So my question for you is… do you know of any way to figure out where cotton is grown for a particular supplier/factory? We’re focusing on Al Nahat Apparel in Amman, Jordan, because we were able to trace our specific brand (Mossimo) to that supplier (via the National Labor Committee website).
If you have any idea, or can recommend any posts you’ve written or articles you’ve read that might help with the project, please let us know.
I’m Beth (berkeleybeth@gmail.com) and my son is Caiman (rocketmonkey@yahoo.com). You can find out more than you’d ever want to know about us at https://www.prettygoodday.com. Thanks, Kelsey!
Beth, Thanks for the kind note. Caiman’s project sounds right up my alley. If I could add another chapter to my book, a visit to Africa would be perfect. The industry is just emerging there.
There are a lot of horrifying realities surrounding the garment industry, but I would also encourage Caiman to look at the good as well as the bad surrounding it. I’m not familiar with Jordan’s industry so I’m not sure which direction that good to bad balance tips, but I would guess it’s not pretty. I’ve found the less established the industry in a country is the harsher the realities. It takes awhile for moral rights to catch up with business wrongs.
Check out this piece by Nicholas Kristof:
https://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000924mag-sweatshops.html
As for tracking the source…
A lot of cotton still originates in the U.S. Look for the book “Travels of a T-shirt” by Pietra Rivoli. The author tracks her T-shirt from a cotton field in Texas, a factory in China, and a screen printer in the U.S. The only way I can think to know for sure is to contact Mossimo (or their parent company, if they have one)or the factory directly and ask them. I would be interested to hear what they tell a 14-year old who’s asking, “Where’s the cotton in my shorts from?” They might not know. They might give you the run around. Caiman could also try contacting others in the textile industry in Jordan. I did some googling and found some email addresses here:
https://www.apparelsearch.com/World_Clothing_Industry/jordan/jordan.htm
Best of luck. I’d love to see Caiman’s paper when he finishes it. In fact, I could post it here if he wants.
Thanks,
Kelsey
hi@kelseytimmerman.com
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