How Much Does It Cost to Make a Nike Shirt

By: Bonzon, Lazo, Schnell

We live in a generation where fashion is valued. There are so many jobs now that can revolve around fashion. One can be a designer, stylist, blogger or even an "influencer". In our world today, trends tend to change a little too fast and being on trend is given importance. Not everyone can afford being on trend all the time which is why fast fashion became a thing. Merriam-Webster defines fast fashion as " an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers". Basically, their goal to produce as much product as they can in the cheapest and fastest way possible. Many of the more famous brands, such as H&M, Forever 21, Old Navy etc, are guilty of this. Because these companies companies earn and produce so much, we often wonder what goes on behind the scenes. Unfortunately, in most cases, these companies turn to sweatshops. The US Department of Labor states that 50% of the garment factories violate 2 or more basic labor laws. Sweatshops also usually occur in places where people don't have a voice to stand up for themselves or aren't taught how to. Many of these sweatshops have workers working too many hours with a pay that isn't enough.  Some might even violate child labor laws. Some also place their workers in factories unsuitable for work.

Unfortunately, Nike is no exception to this. For the longest time, Nike has been one of the leading companies not only in sportswear but the apparel industry in general. According to Grace Williams of Forbes, Nike has been named the 2nd biggest apparel company in the world as of 2017. In the previous years, Nike was still part of the top 20. Nike earned around $ 33.8 billion dollars in 2017. On top of that, Nike has also been named the most influential sportswear brand in numerous countries. According to Paul Nicholson, Nike is the biggest sportwear brand in China because of its huge following. With their huge profit, we must ask how much does it actually cost to produce?

With their huge profit, we must ask how much does it actually cost to produce? It costs Nike to produce a pair of shoes about $28.50. They sell the same pair to wholesalers for around $50 leaving them with $21.50 in profit.  However, this is just an estimate. The price varies per shoe. Flyknits retail for $130 but actually only cost $26 to make. Airmax costs only $33 but sells for $190. Lastly, Free Runs are only $18 but retail for $100.

As mentioned earlier, one of the reasons why companies earn so much is because they use the cheapest possible way to produce clothing. Nike is no exception to this. The brand has received numerous complaints about its sweatshops. Many of which are located in Asia. To name a few, there's Thailand, China, South Korea and Vietnam. Some are also located in South America and Australia. Many of these factories actually aren't suitable for workers. 25-50% of them don't have access to proper restrooms and clean drinking water. Some of them also have harmful chemicals that could potentially cause respiratory problems for their workers in the future. These aren't the only labor laws that are broken. The workers also experience other forms of mistreatment. Some of them have to work all seven days of the week and are not allowed to be given rest days. Workers who refuse to do overtime will be punished. Wages were also extremely below minimum. Workers are usually paid only 14 cents an hour. A lot of these factories also violate child labor laws.

In 2001, Nike promised to make sure the air quality would reach US standards. They also said they would raise the minimum working to 18 in shoe factories and 16 in clothing factories. Non-government organizations would help in factory monitoring and every report would be made public. Nike also said they would expand their worker education program, with free secondary school-equivalent courses. This program would also be expanded to benefit around 4000 families in Asian countries. However, it was also said that these promises actually have little to no benefit to the workers. Their wages are still so low that they can't give up overtime to take any of these courses. In the recent 2017 fashion transparency index, Nike scored only 36 out of 100 because they still lack enough public information about their social and ethical practices. The International Rights Forum also said that Nike completely shunned their commitment to the Worker Rights Consortium, which means labor experts cannot monitor Nike's factories. However, in September of 2017, Nike finally signed a factory access agreement allowing NGOs to check up on the conditions of their workers and publicly share their findings. At the moment, around 86% percent of its company meet the the minimum requirement for sustainability and investment in workers.

On the bright side, Nike has lessened its environmental impact but it's still not enough. It is part of sustainable apparel coalition. As mentioned earlier, many of their factories create hazardous waste which the workers are exposed to. Nike does use a few eco-friendly materials but they still use leather, wool and feathers. Nike also said in a pair of shoes, 60% of its environmental impact come from the materials used. They vowed to stop buying carbon offsets in 2010. They claim that between the years 2011 to 2015, they have reduced carbon emissions by 18%. Some of their shoes also use scraps from old shoes, which are then cut into 3 parts to reuse as rubber bits, foam or fluffy fibre. The company has also reduced their water consumption 5 million gallons ever since they started using their waterless dye process. They also made commitment to reducing their carbon commision by 50% by the year 2025. In present times, Nike has been very open about their goals to lessen their environmental impact as a company.

How do we benefit at the cost of others?

Can we function without Nike? Nowadays it is quite difficult to define what we mean when we say "function". Does this refer to our daily routine? Or is it referring to your actual physical and emotional functions? Things such a Nike Sportswear can range from tops to shoes and us, as a society need clothing – more specifically, we need clothing that functions to suit our daily activities such as going to the grocery or school or the gym. We dress to fit the "acceptable" attire that is associated with our location. For example, when we need to go to work, and work means going to an office, we dress a certain way that is presentable and professional as opposed to when we go to somewhere like the beach where we dress in almost nothing but our board shorts or bikinis and no one will say anything about it because of where you are and the activities that are associated with that area. When it comes to sportswear, it is not so much a question of whether or not we as people can "function" without it, it becomes more of a question of is it appropriate to where it? Or is it comfortable for the activities you are about to do? In actuality, you can go to the gym or take a jog in a regular cotton shirt and loose shorts, or a nice button-down polo and jeans. The problem with that would then be how the clothes make you feel as you sweat and move about. The cotton shirt would eventually get soaked in your sweat making it heavy and clingy to your body, while jeans on the other hand would make it difficult to do certain movements as you would feel restricted by the fabric and the cut of the jeans – because these clothes are not designed for it. In reality, the question is not whether or not you can still function without items such as Nike sportswear, but rather it becomes a question of how well you can function or go about your exercise if you had to give up sportswear.

Technically your life is not dependent on Nike sportswear or any type of sportswear for that matter. The only thing dependent on the production of these items would be your lifestyle. With a lifestyle that requires very little active movement, comes a very low requirement for activewear. However, sportswear is not just about the style or the weight of the material or how good it deals with sweat, but in many cases, they also provide support. For example, for the females, an average everyday bra would be one that is lined with wire to support the breasts or in some cases prop them up and would be padded or made out of a fabric that barely absorbs sweat. Now for everyday walking, this would be just fine, but if you add running at full speed, or jumping to the equation then this type of bra would provide very little support for the women. Therefore, the kind of lifestyle you live also determines how dependent you are on special kinds of items such as sportswear.

Nike sportswear, though it may not seem necessary to some, helps our daily lives by providing clothing that is made specifically to endure movement. However, because sportswear is quite a personal product (meaning you usually by it for your own use) it is hard to argue that it helps anyone else other than yourself. It is also quite difficult to say that by buying these products benefits the workers who made them. Products that are mass produced usually come at the cost of others. For example, in a video entitled "the Story of Stuff" it is shown that big companies take resources from minorities to be able to produce their product at a low cost. The land of these minorities gets occupied by factories, and the people who now are in need of jobs, get employed by these factories where they are paid a minimum wage and are exposed to multiple harmful chemicals.  All this effort, to provide a product that will make your life as a consumer, personally comfortable.

Though it sounds terrible, it would be fair to say that the majority of people who consume products such as Nike sportswear don't bother to think about the workers who made the actual product. When ever we do think about these workers, it seems that our need to consume the product is much higher than our empathy. Of course, however, we need to take into account factors that could lead people to continue buying these products that are not exactly a necessity. For one, these products, though many are not cheap (the average Nike dri fit shirt costs about $30 to $40) are still cheaper than their alternative sweatshop free counterparts. If the products are about the same price anyway, then the next factor is availability; how easy is it to find local brands that produce the same quality of sportswear? There is a Nike store at almost every single mall that you can go to, on top of that, there are also Nike outlet stores – basically Nike at every turn. If you eliminate the cost and availability, then it comes down to what is in fashion or what is the trend. Because society is so influential when it comes to trends. Thus, people continue to buy products such as Nike sportswear, regardless of how it was made. Sadly, in a lot of cases, the factory workers of these big multi million companies do not get a fair salary. Most of them don't even make enough to support themselves, let alone an entire family of mouths to feed. If we simply believe that purchasing Nike sportswear is enough to help factory workers because "we're giving them money" then no we are not helping them at all – in fact, it is quite the opposite.

Changing Consumption Patterns

To stop buying Nike sportswear would first and foremost make the biggest difference on your own personal life. You would either have to be content in exercising in regular clothes, or you would have to find an alternative sportswear clothing brand who doesn't victimize their workers and who is either part of or heading a movement that helps the planet instead of putting it at risk. However, once you manage to do this, then it will just be a question of how you will adjust your lifestyle to fit this new consumption pattern. In our world today, it is difficult to just change your lifestyle overnight. We've grown so accustomed to consuming water, electricity, and all sorts of resources that to make a sudden change would be quite difficult. However, small changes in your lifestyle and consumption patterns could eventually lead to being able to make bigger lifestyle changes for the better. We need to begin with the simple things that we can change, such as consuming less products that we don't actually need. In clothing, we can limit our shopping habits to only buying essentials instead of pushing to have an enormous wardrobe that will allow you to wear completely different outfits for the next three weeks or so. Simplicity and practicality is the key to cutting down on unnecessary luxury items.

Being able to benefit from products without victimizing anyone else to be quite honest is a difficult path. You would have to know where each and every material came from as well as each and every step and cost that was taken to manufacture it. It is not impossible, but it is quite tedious. Therefore, to minimize victimizing workers, we can begin with learning how these items are made.. Once people get a better understanding, then perhaps it will drive people to become more mindful of where and how the products are manufactured. Benefitting from products without victimizing anyone is an ideal goal that can be achieved with a little effort. In the article "No Impact Man's top ten eco-lifestyle changes" by Colin Beavan, he proposes ten different eco-lifestyle changes that we can make in order to minimize the damage being done to the environment. A few of the changes are big lifestyle changes and would require more effort and compromise. However, there are a few that he suggests that would be possible to make even on your own. The first is to "Observe an eco-sabbath".  To observe an eco-sabbath would mean to have a time where you are completely disconnected from media and any form of consumption such as electricity, water, entertainment, food, or surfing the net. This could be simply an hour of meditation out in a park where you can be alone or with a group of people and just enjoy your natural surroundings. It is an easy change to make because you only really need yourself and a moment or so to be able to achieve it. The second suggestion is to "Get there on your own steam". It isn't that hard to find a way to get to places without using fuel or electricity. Simply walking or biking could do the trick. On top of cutting down from taking transport that emits pollution, getting to places on your own steam is also a good way to have a routine of exercising at least once a day. Not only do you do the environment some good, but it is beneficial to your own health as well. The third would be to "Commit to not wasting". Unlike the first two, this suggestion is a bit more of a challenge. It is difficult because almost everything out there has a waste product. Though it will be a bit more effort to carry around your own straws and jugs, eventually it will become a habit that you can get used to. Having friends who have similar habits also helps because it makes it easier when you have to go out s a group and find a place that will allow you to adhere to your zero-waste policy. Finally, there is "Build a community" Which would be the easiest of all. In this day and age where everyone is glued to a form of screen, it is good to enjoy other things with other people. Get into activities together that require little to no consumption – play sports, go for a run, climb a mountain. Anything that would get you to lessen consumption and build more relationships is an easy compromise. You are giving up almost nothing for the memories and experiences that you gain. In short, making this lifestyle change has the ability to benefit an entire community which can lead to changes in society.

Taking Action

Sometimes circumstance gives a feeling that the best thing to do as a consumer is not purchase anything at all. However, society is built wherein consumption is inevitable to fulfill basic and essential needs. Therefore, as responsible consumers, there is a need to make a conscious effort to be aware on what we purchase, how such products were produced, and if buying such products are truly necessary.

True enough it is ideal to selectively choose what to get with your money, and how you spend your money, as spending your resources is like funding the institutions you support. However, this can encourage spending to a different brand which will merely antagonize one brand over the other even though both are equally notorious. In this case, Adidas over Nike might not make a difference. When making a purchase from a successful brand, it is key to know the brand's background. For the sake of funding brands, go for supporting brands that are local. There are numerous local entrepreneurs who sell honest and good quality products with additionally a motive to support the people who manufacture their products. If not young entrepreneurs, there are local brands like Human Nature that make sure their products are naturally safe and ethically tested. A simple effort to be conscious of how and where the products you purchased came from can do big in the long stretch.

Many would prefer a simple action and that is to go directly at the problem. Though when it comes to fighting a company head on for unjust acts, it is important to make a strong and concrete stand against the wrongdoings of a company. It would be ideal to make a stand against Nike with their abuse on workers but to what extent will an act of intensity in current news reach if such headlines die out given time. With such actions, a company will have public relations to deal with keeping the reputation unscathed while finding ways to continue on with the original functions. It has been only a few years since the last known scandal of Nike with sweatshops yet by now many are back to having an unscathed view on Nike. Surely, not much development has been heard of since.

At times, we are left to let companies go unsupervised. However, it is truly difficult to trust big companies in doing the right thing. Even if there are leaders in the company who want to do right actions, there are still other commands like superiors or shareholders who can go against an action if the risk is losing profit. Recalling scenes in The Yes Men, there are people in corporate business willing to jeopardize human life for profit. At times, the moral compass can go out of the window especially in a company that is already in a global scale when it comes to size. Even though Nike will state that the company strives to ensure ethics in all actions, there are many small branches that is difficult like contract workers. With a company which only seeks to gain profit, exploitation will continue if left with no regulation.

Among all actions, government intervention would be the most ideal. It is known that when government intervention towards policy on corporate actions becomes adamant, the companies have no choice but to adhere and function around such policies. In Argentina, there are issues importing product from any other country due to import licensee issues and government interference. Thus, causing shoes to be made locally and with ideal regulations to avoid worker abuse. The sad truth is that the Philippine government is inefficient to make sure regulation and policy. This makes the government look more like it bends to the whim of corporations instead of vice versa. Until we have an intervention in our own government, this option is waiting to be the best option against such abuses.

Sources:

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Beavan, C. n.d. No Impact Man's Top Ten Eco-lifestyle Changes. Retrieved April 09, 2018 from https://colinbeavan.com/no-impact-mans-top-ten-ecolifestyle-changes/

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How Much Does It Cost to Make a Nike Shirt

Source: https://thehappyandgayexperience.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/the-true-cost-of-nike/

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