Does your outfit benefit your country?
By: Mónica G. Parra O.
Nowadays, most people consume clothing from globalized brands. In other words, a large percentage of our outfits come from fashion companies that can be found in almost any country we travel to. But have we ever stopped to think about who really benefits from our purchases? Or whether we are contributing to or harming our environment?
Without realizing it, we may come to believe that we are wearing garments from our own country, when in fact we are not. What happens is that, having seen these brands present since our childhood and in so many corners of our territory, we assume they are local. However, most of them are international, and this confusion arises from not taking the time to investigate their true origin.
WHAT IMPACT DOES CONSUMING LOCAL BRANDS HAVE?
Perhaps, if we start choosing brands from our own country—regardless of whether they are well-known or not—we could be that grain of sand that helps improve the reserves of our city, state, or nation. Consuming local strengthens the national economy, generates jobs, supports entrepreneurship, fosters healthy competitiveness, reduces capital flight, and also acts as an economic multiplier.
“As economies became more integrated with each other, they became more disintegrated within themselves – with inequalities in income, in social and cultural perceptions, in a sense of disconnect between the ordinary people and the political elites,” said in 2013 the Turkish economist and Harvard graduate Dani Rodrik, according to Forbes India.
In addition, globalized brands do not always take care of their production processes and, by failing to do so, they generate a negative impact on the environment. But that is a topic that deserves a deeper analysis later on.
For now, the invitation is simple: every time you go shopping, think about whether you prefer to support foreign shareholders and investors or national talents; whether you want to bet on new creative proposals or on large international corporations.
