Sewing Hope: How One Factory Challenges the Apparel Industry's Sweatshops

by Sarah Adler-Milstein, John M. Kline

Sewing Hope offers the first account of a bold challenge to apparel-industry sweatshops. The Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic is the anti-sweatshop. It boasts a living wage three times the legal minimum, high health and safety standards, and a legitimate union—all verified by an independent monitor. It is the only apparel factory in the global south to meet these criteria.

The Alta Gracia business model represents an alternative to the industry’s usual race-to-the-bottom model with its inherent poverty wages and unsafe factory conditions. Workers’ stories reveal how adding US$0.90 to a sweatshirt’s production price can change from getting a life-saving operation to a reunited family; from purchasing children's school uniforms to taking night classes; from obtaining first-ever bank loans to installing running water. Sewing Hope invites readers into the apparel industry’s sweatshops and the Alta Gracia factory to learn how the anti-sweatshop started, how it overcame challenges, and how the impact of its business model could transform the global industry.

Genres: Fashion

244 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2017

Reviews

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine that the story of a business endeavor or a social justice struggle could be a page-turner, but Sarah Adler-Milstein and John Klein have managed to do just that with Sewing Hope. This story defies the typical, overly-simplistic characterizations of workers' struggles for improved wages and management's attempts to squash them. Instead, we get an incredibly nuanced portrait of people - from business executives to factory supervisors to union leaders to student activists- who are working together and redefining traditional roles to upend the traditional garment factory model. What results for the reader is a deeper understanding of the forces driving the global apparel industry, an inspiring, insider-look at the efforts and struggles of the Alta Gracia business in the Dominican Republic, and a sense of what the industry could be.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book chronicles the design and implementation of the first (and currently only) living wage factory in the global garment industry. The authors provide critical details about how this innovative project was developed and how this model can be replicated, while also telling a compelling story about the life-changing impact of the living wage payments. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to create meaningful change in global supply chains. A must-read for the conscious consumer!

[Belle Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very engrossing and thought provoking book which describes the complexities of creating and sustaining Alta Gracia, the only factory in the global South to pay a living wage. There are wonderful descriptions and photos of the factory workers who describe the difference having a living wage and being treated with dignity has made in their lives. In language that a non-economist can understand, it addresses the economics of moving from sweat shop to living wages and whether the model of Alta Gracia can be replicated.
I highly recommend this book!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the chance to review an advance copy of this book. This is an important story in which one of the authors was a key participant, and sheds light on the challenges of creating safe, respectful workplaces paying decent wages in global supply chains - as well as an encouraging story of a major, ongoing success. Highly recommended.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2. The story being told here was interesting and inspiring and totally worth reading. But there maybe wasn't enough story to fill a whole book. The book was excessively detailed about the business practices for general audiences. Parts of it were great reading, though.

I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Aisha Manus · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I really liked the stories of the workers and what they did with their living wages. Also this book makes me want to continue to only buy used clothes and when I have to buy new to make sure it’s from companies that support a living wage. Also I really wonder how Alta Garcia faired through Covid and the shut down of universities. Recommend

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a spectacular testament to the power that organizing has on transforming communities. Incredibly insightful, beautifully written, and with lessons important for all to learn.