Clean Clothes Campaign calls on fashion companies to ban sandblasting - 4 companies were invited to respond
On 13 February 2011 Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) launched "Stop the Killer Jeans!" campaign, calling on leading fashion manufacturers and retailers to ban sandblasting - a technique for producing denim garments with an artificially worn look. CCC alleges that the large amounts of silica dust produced in the process can lead to silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease. In its campaign CCC singled out Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli and Just Group as the brands refusing to ban sandblasting. On 10 August 2011 the Guardian published an article "Dolce & Gabbana in dock over 'killer jeans' " by John Hooper, which described the efforts undertaken by CCC to pressure fashion manufacturers to ban sandblasting. The article accused Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli of not being willing to engage with CCC. [CCC campaign also refers to Adolfo Dominquez, Benetton, Bestseller, Burberry (part of GUS), Carrera Jeans, Charles Vögele, Diesel, Esprit, Gucci (part of PPR), IC, Inditex, Holy Fashion Group, New Yorker, Mango, Metro, New Look, Pepe Jeans, Replay, Orsay, Street One, Versace, VF, S.Oliver, Prada, Primark (part of Associated British Foods)]
In August 2011 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Just Group and Roberto Cavalli to respond to the allegations raised in the CCC campaign and John Hooper's article.
Company responses and non-responses
- Dolce & Gabbana declined to respond
- Giorgio Armani response [DOC]
Clean Clothes Campaign statement re Armani banning sandblasting - Just Group issued a statement on its policy on sandblasting in Sep 2011 (scroll down to "Ethical Responsibility")
Clean Clothes Campaign as of 27 September 2011 states that Just Group has banned the practice of sandblasting - Roberto Cavalli - we have invited the company to respond and will indicate here whether it responds or not
Further coverage
-"Sandblasted jeans: should we give up on distressed denim?", Cordelia Hebblethwaite & Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC, 1 Oct 2011