Chris Lombardi
beautiful beginnings
Yes, it’s a bit heavy-handed, and it’s not the greatest exposure, but I included it here for the kid’s sweatshirt. It may be a little hard to read, but it’s a “God Bless America,” “Pray For Our Troops,” “Operation Desert Storm” sweat shirt from 1991. How the hell did this 14-year old piece of propaganda end up on an orphaned street boy in Nakuru, Kenya?
American second-hand clothing is all over Kenya. Strange stuff, too. I saw a Billy Joel concert t-shirt from 1993. An Alpha Phi sorority t-shirt commemorating an especially significant barbeque. A Philadelphia Renaissance Faire t-shirt. The funniest (and I still kick myself for not having the balls to take a picture) was a Kenyan man with a large pot belly wearing a “Caution: Baby Under Construction” t-shirt.
The clothing donated to second-hand stores in the U.S. and Canada is being sold--for a profit--in developing countries. Which would be fine--better than the landfill, I guess--but for the fact that this secondhand trade has devastated Kenya’s textile industry. Kenya once had a thriving textile sector. It also once had protective tariffs on imported clothing to aid that native industry. But the Kenyan government dropped those tariffs, probably as a result of pressure by the International Monetary Fund--a condition on aid in the servicing of Kenya‘s World Bank debt, no doubt--and in flowed the tattered Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys and the “Virginia is For Lovers” pullovers, and out flowed desperately needed Kenyan jobs. A fine example of how “free trade” often works out for developing countries.
I’ve heard that a documentary film is in the works exploring American secondhand clothing and the developing world. 247_4704
beautiful beginnings
Yes, it’s a bit heavy-handed, and it’s not the greatest exposure, but I included it here for the kid’s sweatshirt. It may be a little hard to read, but it’s a “God Bless America,” “Pray For Our Troops,” “Operation Desert Storm” sweat shirt from 1991. How the hell did this 14-year old piece of propaganda end up on an orphaned street boy in Nakuru, Kenya?
American second-hand clothing is all over Kenya. Strange stuff, too. I saw a Billy Joel concert t-shirt from 1993. An Alpha Phi sorority t-shirt commemorating an especially significant barbeque. A Philadelphia Renaissance Faire t-shirt. The funniest (and I still kick myself for not having the balls to take a picture) was a Kenyan man with a large pot belly wearing a “Caution: Baby Under Construction” t-shirt.
The clothing donated to second-hand stores in the U.S. and Canada is being sold--for a profit--in developing countries. Which would be fine--better than the landfill, I guess--but for the fact that this secondhand trade has devastated Kenya’s textile industry. Kenya once had a thriving textile sector. It also once had protective tariffs on imported clothing to aid that native industry. But the Kenyan government dropped those tariffs, probably as a result of pressure by the International Monetary Fund--a condition on aid in the servicing of Kenya‘s World Bank debt, no doubt--and in flowed the tattered Toronto Maple Leaf jerseys and the “Virginia is For Lovers” pullovers, and out flowed desperately needed Kenyan jobs. A fine example of how “free trade” often works out for developing countries.
I’ve heard that a documentary film is in the works exploring American secondhand clothing and the developing world. 247_4704