Urban Outfitters, a publicly traded American company and owner of five retail brands including, Free People and Anthropologie, is located right here in Downtown State College. It is known for its high prices, fashionable attire, and quality clothing. After doing some research, however, I’ve found that the clothes are poorly made and simply not worth the money spent on them. In fact, like most apparel chains, their clothes are made in sweatshops. They’ve even been blamed for the sweatshop “crisis” taking place around the world. I’ve read several articles promoting a boycott because of this. In these articles, the writers use pathos to appeal to consumers saying that sweatshop workers are subject to poor conditions, aren’t paid properly, and use child labor.
In today’s society, however, a boycott would not only be difficult but hypocritical because in America, we shop at stores who are known for using sweatshop labor every day, such as Starbucks, Forever21 and Nike. www.newmoon.com has a list of companies who used sweatshop labor as well.
There are also ethical dilemmas surrounding Urban Outfitters. Some criticizers of the company are saying that the company doesn’t support the morals that its owners claim to believe in. An example of this can be seen in their “Jesus Saves…I Spend” T-Shirt. The graphics are ironic because while the company supports politicians, such as Rick Santorum, who do not support homosexuality, the shirt seems to mock them.
(“Jesus Saves, I Spend” Sweat-shirt, which is $120 on Urban Outfitters’ Website)
In order to buy trendy, inexpensive clothes, while not supporting these large, immoral corporations, I recommend buying clothes at independently owned businesses, such as etsy.com and thrift stores. I’ve found really cute clothes there all under $10!
I had no idea that Urban did this. I loved reading your post. It was very informative. This gives me an even better reason not to shop there other than their ridiculous prices!
Your posts are extraordinarily infromative, and they address issues that many other people may not even consider as being issues. I was also unaware that Urban Outfitters used sweatshops, but now I do. I agree with the thrift shop idea as well.
I really liked this blog post. The theme that you used here is quite different from the themes of your last post. This post emotionally drew me in and was very imformative. I actually did not know that Nike used sweat shop labor, I do now though. Looking forward to more.
I never really take the time to research the background of stores, so I never would have known that Urban Outfitters was a store accused of employing sweatshop labor. I think it’s great that you’re bringing these issues to other people’s attention, and I do agree that shopping at thrift stores can turn out well.