Though the spotlight is shifting, the people handmaking our clothes, shoes, and accessories remain largely invisible, particularly because a significant portion are home-based workers, distanced from audited factories and brand traceability programs by as many as seven intermediaries.
Brands collaborating with home-based artisans span the full spectrum of fashion, from Liberty to Gap, says HomeNet International’s Dave. To that end, HomeNet International acts as a network federating unions, cooperatives, and membership organizations at a global scale. It currently represents 1.5 million home-based workers. Often informal and ad-hoc, home-based working can draw assumptions of exploitation. These assumptions are not unfounded, says Dave, but HomeNet International supports home-based workers — 95% of whom are women — as they navigate patriarchal expectations to stay at home, a lack of safe mobility to work outside the home, and care responsibilities, while still earning a living through skilled work.
Piece rate (being paid per product delivered) is the norm, another scenario that often sets off alarm bells for exploitation, as many unions globally have fought to have piece rates abolished. However, Dave explains that it can work, provided brands engage with unions or producer organizations that can bargain for the inclusion of so-called social protection in their fee. It can cost less than $1 extra per piece for a brand, but tops up piece rates for workers, so they amount to a fair wage that can support rights such as sick leave and holidays. For this to happen, brands mustn’t shy away from acknowledging the home-based workers in their supply chains, but identify them and engage, says Dave.
In 2023, for example, Alémais formalized its artisanal sourcing policy and strategy, recognizing the different ways of working and accommodating for longer lead times, different payment structures, and additional sourcing support, says Jermanus. It also works with formal certifications, where available, to underpin its commitments to responsible sourcing.
One certification available to brands is Nest’s Ethical Handcraft Seal. While Nest Verified Handcrafted determines whether a product was handcrafted, the Ethical Handcraft Seal proves it was handcrafted ethically, spanning workers’ rights, child labor, fair compensation and benefits, and business transparency.
While Nest certifies handcrafted supply chains, newcomer the Artisan Network And Authenticity Registry (ANAAR) makes them visible in the first place. It will launch as part of British brand Tammam’s London Fashion Week show, and artisans will be invited to create a profile from September 19. The blockchain-based system will map makers, materials, and methods to provide “proof of making” to suppliers, brands, and consumers. Free to use for artisans, the system allows them to upload imagery of the making process to the ANAAR platform, immutably linking their profile to products, while protecting confidentiality and intellectual property. The result is a product that holds the details of every single artisan involved in its creation.
Left – master block printers with their handiwork. Middle – Fabric hand dyed by artisans drying in the sun. Right – Bargu printing artisan, Sushila Chhipa, prints fabric by hand.
Photo: Left – Handmade Future (film still)/ Middle and right – Stacia Hiramine
