Labor Rights Activists Make Versace Run and Hide on Facebook

Versace turns off its Facebook wall to fan posts after a group of activists led by the Clean Clothes Campaign ask the luxury Italian fashion house to stop using a highly dangerous garment production method which gives Versace jeans a ‘worn’ look.

The Italian fashion house Gianni Versace has de-activated its Facebook wall after activists posted dozens of messages demanding that the company ban sandblasting, a technique used to give jeans a used look which is highly dangerous to workers.

The process of sandblasting involves workers firing sand under high pressure at jeans and 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 and Gucci, have already abolished sandblasted jeans in their collections. However, Versace has taken no action despite repeated calls from international labor rights groups like the Clean Clothes Campaign for them to do so.

Hundreds of European and American activists have joined the group’s campaign on Change.org demanding that Versace ban sandblasting.

“What has happened here is remarkable,” said Meredith Slater, an organizer with Change.org, the world’s fastest growing platform for social change. “Versace customers call on the company to simply follow the lead of other major clothing brands and stop seriously endangering its workers. Instead of responding to the content of that demand, the company decides to try and silence any criticism.”

“The Clean Clothes Campaign has already gotten Levi’s, H&M, C&A and Gucci to end the practice of sandblasting, and now they have launched an impressive social media campaign and recruited hundreds of supporters from all over the world to demand that Versace do the same,” Slater continued. “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 campaign.”