Look at photographs from the Bangladesh garment factory collapse, and you can see clothing in the rubble destined for a store called Joe Fresh, one of the many retailers using supercheap fashions made overseas to keep shoppers buying often.
But in the aftermath of the tragedy, would customers pay more if they knew the clothes were made by workers treated fairly and safely?
At the Joe Fresh store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, customers are bombarded with pastel polo shirts, button-down shirts and chino pants. On one shelf, you might find clothes made in Peru, Vietnam and China. Toward the back, there are piles and piles of shorts, just $19 each, and each made in Bangladesh.
Outside the store, Reene Schiaffo emerged with a bag full of Joe Fresh merchandise. She says she knew about the Bangladesh factory collapse but gives the company the benefit of the doubt.
"It didn't affect my sale, because I know a lot of times these retailers don't exactly know where the stuff is being made," she says, "but they have to pay attention more because that's not acceptable."
Of course, Joe Fresh has many competitors. Nearby Herald Square has become a kind of mecca for what the industry calls fast fashion — clothes so cheap they are almost disposable. On a block with Zara, H&M, Gap and Uniqlo, I asked shoppers if they'd pay more if they knew the clothes came from safe factories that treated workers well.
Most, like Ingrid Lelorieux of France, said yes.
"If it's between 5 and 10 percent, I will," she says.
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