H&M: Boycott. Boycott H&M

Yesterday, a friend of mine told me that she bought this skirt at H&M. So I reminded her once again of the main reasons to boycott H&M. Here they are – again – for all.

‎(1) Israeli Designer: “Israeli fashion designer Alber Elbaz, artistic director at the influential Lanvin fashion house, is crafting an exclusive fall collection for the wildly successful H&M international clothing chain.” — http://www.israel21c.org/201010248465/briefs/israeli-designer-for-ham-fall-collection

‎(2) H&M Stores in Israel. “In addition to opening stores in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, H&M has announced its decision to open additional stores in Haifa, Petah Tikva, Netanya, and Rehovot While H&M is clearly not the only international chain that is operating in …Israel, its decision to invest substantially in Israel after its criminal war of aggression on Gaza and in the midst of its intensified colonization of Jerusalem in contravention of international law can only be understood by Palestinians and supporters of just peace around the world as a form of support for Israel’s abhorrent violations of international law and human rights.” – http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node%2F663

(3) Child Labor. “”H&M (Hennes & Mauritz) is accused for using child labour and paying substandard wages to their workers in Cambodia.” http://www.scandasia.com/viewNews.php?news_id=2524&coun_code=ph

plus: “ Anti-Slavery International calls on H&M and Zara to cut out Uzbek cotton” — In December 2009, campaigners in the UK called on two leading high street retailers to stop selling clothes made with cotton which may have been picked by children. Anti-Slavery International and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) accused H&M and Zara of using cotton suppliers in Bangladesh. It is also suspected that many of their raw materials originates from Uzbekistan, where children aged 10 are forced to work in the fields. The activists were calling to ban the use of Uzbek cotton and implement a “track and trace” systems to guarantee an ethical responsible source of the material.

(4) Poor Working Conditions “In early March [2010], The Independent reported a Bangladeshi sweatshop factory supplying H&M caught fire, killing 21 workers who had been working late into the night to meet a quota. The fire exits had been blocked and the fire extinguishing equipment non-functioning.” http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/are-these-unethical-fashion-brands-hiding-in-your-closet.php

(5) Fraud: “the German edition of the Financial Times revealed that H&M was committing organic cotton fraud.” http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/are-these-unethical-fashion-brands-hiding-in-your-closet.php

So: practice consumer ethics.

Shop elsewhere.