HOW WAS NOWHERE BORN?
Today we want to tell you how this adventure called Nowhere started. It all started in 2018, when I, Yago, was working for an international trading company in Madrid.
I was assigned a project in which I had to find a factory in Cambodia, that could make a production for a Fast fashion company (for those of you who don't know the concept, in short it means, buy more clothes, of worse quality, cheaper and that will last less, learn it, we will talk a lot about it around here). After the corresponding research, contact with suppliers and training (since I was completely unfamiliar with this industry) I went to Cambodia, specifically to the capital, Phnom Penh.
There I spent the most intense three weeks of my life visiting almost 40 factories. This is a summary of my experience:
-Rivers of colors. Every day I changed color depending on the dyes used by the factories, crazy.
In the dyeing plant they didn't use masks so the workers inhaled all the toxic fumes.
I found several clandestine workshops working for big Spanish firms, including my client. People working without a contract at 40ºC and without a fan, I barely lasted 10 minutes inside.
In many factories I visited there were teenagers working, the owners justified that Cambodians have very good skin, literally.
Plastic was more abundant than plants, it was everywhere. Dogs, pigs and cows scavenged through it in search of food.
Knowing the reality of who is behind the garments we consume made me consider starting a project where the transparency and traceability would be the basis. That is why, from nowhere, we want to provide the maximum tools for our consumers to know what they are buying, so they can make a thoughtful and conscious purchase.
Let's get back to being critical of brands, asking questions and doubting everything.
PS: We also found factories where the working conditions seemed decent. The question is: is it fair to pay 5€ a day to your worker .
Whose fault is it, the factories and/or the multinationals that demand very thorough audits but then pay 1.5€ per garment?
We would love to know your opinion.