In April 2013, an industry that constitutes the backbone of our economy collapsed with the death of 1129 workers. Despite Bangladesh being the third-largest garment producer in the world, we lost the edge in the global market.
Global search engine coverage of calamities like “Tazreen fashions” & “Rana Plaza” painted a very negative picture despite industry-wide efforts to ensure workers’ rights and safety.
To change this perception, we built credible content based on the real stories of real people moving audiences across the globe.
We partnered with C&A Foundation to bring transparency in the supply chain using real stories to change global perception about the industry.
From digital platforms to events & print media, our objective was to create an identity that would represent equality.
The MiE initiative would reflect a collective effort to document, highlight and communicate the changes made at organizational and policy levels to empower workers.
In order to maintain neutrality, we chose to work with colors, icons, and typography which were soothing & memorable.
In April 2013, an industry that constitutes the backbone of our economy collapsed with the death of 1129 workers. Despite Bangladesh being the third-largest garment producer in the world, we lost the edge in the global market.
Global search engine coverage of calamities like “Tazreen fashions” & “Rana Plaza” painted a very negative picture despite industry-wide efforts to ensure workers’ rights and safety.
To change this perception, we built credible content based on the real stories of real people moving audiences across the globe.
We went down to various slums across Bangladesh where the workers live on minimum wage and covered their everyday life stories. We kept the stories authentic, and picked up on the little moments of joy and positivity that mattered to them.
“I have been working for almost 20-25 years. I started in the sewing department at the age of ten with a salary of only BDT 150. Now I work in the Columbia market.
Since I never got a chance to study, I wanted my children to receive a proper education. This is why I had to send them away to Barisal at my parents’ place when they were kids. Only a mother understands how hard it is to stay away from her children. I endured the pain in the hope of a better future for them.
Today, I am proud to say, both my children are graduates from one of the top universities in the country.”
We compiled a collection of comments and reactions from our social media pages and compiled them into a booklet which was circulated among the workers we surveyed. Their stories changed the global narrative. It was important they know that too.
The Bangladesh RMG industry, a driving force of our economy, comprises 80% women. To celebrate their contributions to this industry, we created two short videos in two consecutive Women’s Day campaigns.
Two Worlds Everyday captured the journey of two women who come from different backgrounds but share the same aspirations.
This campaign was followed next year with Shiuly’r Golpo – a video story that showed the journey of an empowered woman who sustained her family independently.
We believe that there is an opportunity to transform how the public perceives garment workers, factory managers, and others and that this can lead to public advocacy on their behalf and greater consideration by consumers of their role in the garment industry. We hosted the Meet the Makers Exhibition to help our audience understand & read the stories in person. We created a small booklet with stories for the attendees as well as presented the books to the workers whose stories we published.
This initiative was supported by C&A Foundation, with a vision to change the way the world perceives garment workers. The apparel industry touches 150 million lives around the world, shaping livelihoods for marginalized workers & empowering them.
