Fast fashion and racialized labor with Minh-Ha T. Pham
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Hello from the decline of the West!\\xa0
This week\\u2019s episode features a wonderful conversation with Minh-Ha T. Pham, a professor at Pratt who researches fashion labor under global capitalism and digital capitalism\\u2014and whose new book, Why We Can\\u2019t Have Nice Things, is out now.\\xa0
3:45 \\u2013 We begin by reminiscing about the era of the fashion blogger (including Minh-Ha herself) and the role that young, transnational Asians played as cultural intermediaries for historically exclusive, white brands. Is there a link between them and Asian garment workers? How did those unpaid \\u201ccreatives\\u201d pave the way for the continued casualization of fashion labor on social media?\\xa0
31:50 \\u2013 We also discuss the problem of fast fashion and the racialized way it\\u2019s often discussed. The Chinese company Shein is widely portrayed as the worst offender, as was the Korean-American-owned Forever 21 in its heyday. Minh-Ha questions that framing: In a global fashion economy that requires low wages to boost profits and encourages insatiable consumption at great environmental cost, does it make sense to zero in on these budget (Asian) brands? And do these narratives assume that some countries can only \\u201cdevelop\\u201d if their workers are underpaid to produce our clothes?\\xa0\\xa0
Plus, an answer to the question you didn\\u2019t know you had about Prada and sequins.\\xa0
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