Dolce & Gabbana Tries to Silence Facebook Activists

Dolce & Gabbana deleted Facebook wall posts as soon as Change.org members led by the Clean Clothes Campaign wrote on the luxury Italian fashion house’s wall, demanding that they stop using a highly dangerous garment production method which gives Dolce & Gabbana jeans a ‘worn’ look

LONDON – The Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana deleted posts on its Facebook wall after Change.org members posted messages demanding that the company ban sandblasting, a technique used to give jeans a used look which is highly dangerous to workers.

The move comes after more than 25,000 European and American activists have joined a campaign on Change.org demanding that the company ban sandblasting.

Sandblasting is a dangerous process which involves workers firing sand at jeans under high pressure. It has been known to kill workers in garment producing countries like Turkey and Bangladesh, where jean sandblasting is done manually. The large amounts of silica dust generated during sandblasting can cause silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease, as workers inhale tiny particles of silica.

A number of major brands, such as Levi's, H&M, C&A, Gucci, and most recently Versace, have already abolished sandblasted jeans in their collections. However, Dolce & Gabbana has explicitly told the Clean Clothes Campaign that they have no intention of banning sandblasting, despite conclusive evidence and numerous deaths demonstrating how dangerous the practice is.

The Clean Clothes Campaign recently claimed victory after a campaign on Change.org calling on Versace to ban sandblasting. That Italian fashion house eventually agreeed to the group’s demands, going so far as to to say that any supplier found to be employing sandblasting as a production technique would be in breach of contract with Versace.

“The Clean Clothes Campaign has now launched an impressive social media campaign and recruited tens of thousands of supporters from all over the world to demand that Dolce & Gabbana follow in the footsteps of their competitors and ban sandblasting,” said Change.org Organizer Meredith Slater. “Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been an honor to provide a platform for the Clean Clothes Campaign’s inspiring campaigns.”

Live signatures from the Dolce & Gabbana “Killer Jeans” Change.org campaign:

http://www.change.org/petitions/dolce-gabbana-stop-the-killer-jeans