ABOUT & SOURCES

THE PROJECT

Through These Hands is an activist website that aims to bring awareness to the realities of garment workers in fast fashion industries. Fast fashion industries usually rely on cheap textiles and low-priced labour to produce in mass quantities. These global supply chains often can be found in countries where workers rights are neglected, and workers are often being exploited.

FOCUS

My research focuses on garment factories in Asia by looking at countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China, which are among the world's largest garment producing nations. Bangladesh, in particular, is one of the most significant exporters of garments globally, making it a key focus of the fast fashion supply chain.

STRUCTURE

This project is divided in subcategories to explore in more detail some of the realities these workers face. The three main categories explored in this website are wages below the living standards, unsafe and hazardous working conditions, and child labour within the global fast fashion supply chain. The final page addresses how awareness and consumer responsibility can make a small difference as well as link some organizations that support this cause. The website primarily presents some research-based facts and statistics found on reports and labour organizations. Visually, the project combines pictures and illustrations to create a narrative that emphasizes the human labour behind this industry. Ultimately, this project aims to encourage viewers to reflect on the human labour behind the clothing they consume.

WHY THIS SUBJECT

I chose this subject because discussions about fast fashion industries often focus primarily on the environmental impact. Most of us have already been taught to examine issues such as polyester production in textiles, for example, and how it is not a sustainable material. However, the labour conditions behind some of these big industries are far less frequently discussed. While the environmental impact is widely acknowledged already, the exploitation of workers in countries where the labour is cheap remains less visible in everyday conversations about fast fashion. Even though it is a reality that most of us are aware of, there is often a limited understanding of the specific realities workers face, which is why this website aims to provide a clearer insight into those conditions.

AI USAGE NOTE

I used ChatGPT as a writing assistant to help phrase and polish my content, though all research and ideas are my own. I used Claude to help debug and fix parts of my code that were not working as intended.