Another Article
This is an article my friend Alex submitted to us to be submitted to us to be published in the zine. Read, post comments, think about it.
pantSTOPoverty
<>-Alexandra Hoefinger
Started last year at the hand of my sister's boyfriend, Ben Ramsden, Pants to Poverty is an ethical underwear company that exhibits a 100% transparent line of production. This means that when you purchase a pair of these fairtrade underwear, you can trace each precise step that they go through in the process of manufacturing- from the final product all the way back to the ethical cotton tree plantations at which they were started in India, called Agrocel Pure and Fair Cotton Grower's Association. The message behind the underwear, as stated on the website www.pantstopoverty.com, is that "manmade poverty is a scandal and together we can find beautiful ways to wipe it out."
The pants are more than just trendy black exact rip-offs of Calvin Klein's male and female designs, they are a tool for powerful change in manufacturing and business. Recently a swanky British department store, called Top Shop, rang up Ben's cell phone to offer sales of the pants in its shops. The pants are not sold in any stores yet, but Ben turned down the offer because Top Shop wanted to charge one extra pound per pair for their own profit. The price of the pants is calculated by the price of the cotton, the fair wages of the laborers, the exit tariff in India, and a handful of other factors, but individual profit is not included whatsoever. Therefore Top Shop's one pound profit would not comply with the ethical history of the underwear. But its about negotiating. Ben didn't cut ties with the store, but rather encouraged them to consider less of a profit margin and objectively change its business practices.
The line was launched on a rainy day this past Spring at a demonstration in front of the Royal Exchange, widely known as the heart of London's finance and banking. Over one hundred people of all ages danced around the front steps of the building, wearing nothing but shoes and Pants to Poverty, shouting anti-poverty slogans. Naturally the event drew the press and sizeable crowds and began the progress of public awareness and appeal for the underwear. Not long after that, Pants to Poverty landed a fashion shoot in an ethical magazine in England but the next shipment of underwear had not arrived at the time. When it came down to a panic on the day and hour of the shooting, with no pair of Pants to Poverty for the model to wear, the only option was for Ben to rip off the pair he was wearing and hand them over. To this day, few know the true story behind the crusty pair of underwear modeled in that mag.
It's a gritty, innovative project organized by real human beings with a sincere passion for human rights and ending poverty in creative new ways. They are lovely underwear. Pants to Poverty is all about having a great time while cracking the capitalist whip in the opposite direction! Let's sting those greasy fat fingers and make them listen… change is in our pants!
pantSTOPoverty
<>-Alexandra Hoefinger
Started last year at the hand of my sister's boyfriend, Ben Ramsden, Pants to Poverty is an ethical underwear company that exhibits a 100% transparent line of production. This means that when you purchase a pair of these fairtrade underwear, you can trace each precise step that they go through in the process of manufacturing- from the final product all the way back to the ethical cotton tree plantations at which they were started in India, called Agrocel Pure and Fair Cotton Grower's Association. The message behind the underwear, as stated on the website www.pantstopoverty.com, is that "manmade poverty is a scandal and together we can find beautiful ways to wipe it out."
The pants are more than just trendy black exact rip-offs of Calvin Klein's male and female designs, they are a tool for powerful change in manufacturing and business. Recently a swanky British department store, called Top Shop, rang up Ben's cell phone to offer sales of the pants in its shops. The pants are not sold in any stores yet, but Ben turned down the offer because Top Shop wanted to charge one extra pound per pair for their own profit. The price of the pants is calculated by the price of the cotton, the fair wages of the laborers, the exit tariff in India, and a handful of other factors, but individual profit is not included whatsoever. Therefore Top Shop's one pound profit would not comply with the ethical history of the underwear. But its about negotiating. Ben didn't cut ties with the store, but rather encouraged them to consider less of a profit margin and objectively change its business practices.
The line was launched on a rainy day this past Spring at a demonstration in front of the Royal Exchange, widely known as the heart of London's finance and banking. Over one hundred people of all ages danced around the front steps of the building, wearing nothing but shoes and Pants to Poverty, shouting anti-poverty slogans. Naturally the event drew the press and sizeable crowds and began the progress of public awareness and appeal for the underwear. Not long after that, Pants to Poverty landed a fashion shoot in an ethical magazine in England but the next shipment of underwear had not arrived at the time. When it came down to a panic on the day and hour of the shooting, with no pair of Pants to Poverty for the model to wear, the only option was for Ben to rip off the pair he was wearing and hand them over. To this day, few know the true story behind the crusty pair of underwear modeled in that mag.
It's a gritty, innovative project organized by real human beings with a sincere passion for human rights and ending poverty in creative new ways. They are lovely underwear. Pants to Poverty is all about having a great time while cracking the capitalist whip in the opposite direction! Let's sting those greasy fat fingers and make them listen… change is in our pants!
From the United States, they can be purchased online at the very Zen-like website that features quotes from Mohandas Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Theresa: www.pantstopoverty.com!!!
posted by Strive for Change at 9:45 PM
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