Apple, Child Labor & Other Forms of “Non-Compliance”

It seems Apple has revealed that child labor was used in some of its factories, and there were other forms of “non-compliance.” (Click here if you’d like to read the article.) You’ll see that, in some cases, workers were beaten for their own “non-compliance.”

Because I go out of my way to make sure our Rebagz are made under fair labor conditions - meaning good wages and a good, safe place to work - in the Philippines, this is reaaaallly a sore point for me, especially since people occasionally question our prices. I simply say, “Our bags aren’t made in China.”

Yes, it’s to Apple’s credit that they revealed this themselves rather than having someone else reveal it for them. And I do think they try to hold themselves to (somewhat) higher standards than their competitors. It’s just that I’ve become increasingly disturbed by how complacent most manufacturers are about the fair labor issue. They’re completely comfortable with the fact that people - sometimes children - work in hideous conditions and make terrible wages. They’ll literally say to me, “It’s just too expensive,” in very calm tones when I confront them about it.

Matter-of-Fact Mistreatment

It’s that calm, matter-of-fact tenor to their words that twists my stomach inside out. Of course it’s alright to treat people horribly, so long as we can sell our product. I’ve even read articles about how much better it is for the Chinese workers because they’re not stuck on the farm anymore, the women particularly.

Instead, they get to live in dormitories, and earn minimal wages that they then have to spend at the company’s store. They work weeks without a day off and, obviously, they’re not 8-hour days. They don’t get vacations. Sometimes they get beaten. Or sexually abused. But mostly they just work…and work…and work…so the factory owner and the importers can get better profit margins.

And yet, the other companies (and the Chinese) insist their workers are so much better off - to which I say, in a similarly matter-of-fact voice, that the house slaves had it better than the field slaves. But they were still slaves.

That’s usually about the time when the conversation ends.

Start Building Your Mountain

Please please please be aware of what you’re buying. Remember your dollars impact the world at large. If you purchase something made under fair labor conditions that may cost a little more than that bag made in China, you do two things. First, in all likelihood, you’ll get much better quality. Second, you literally change the world. Just a little - but little bits add up to mountains.

XOXO Marty

Alexis Dziena, the sleek young actress who plays Ashley on the hit show, was the one who wore it.  The show’s a great fit for us because the star of “Entourage” Adrian Grenier is very dedicated to the environment and has his own show called “Alter Eco” on the Planet Green channel.

How did we get this coup? Well, let’s just say we’re very thankful to Lisa Greenfield, who’s a dear friend and a big supporter of our Rebagz. And thanks also go to the “Celebrity Bags and Style” section on The Purse Forum, a part of The Purse Blog, where you can go to get the expert lowdown on designer bags.

Alexis Dziena & our Silver Tie Tote on "Entourage"

We also loved our previous Rebagz “appearance” on TV when our Multi-Color Large Tie Tote was featured on several episodes spanning three seasons of “Ugly Betty.”  The show’s star America Ferrera had received the bag at an Emmy Awards party in September 2007, just a few months after we launched the line.  That January, we started getting calls from our customers telling us they’d seen the bag on “Ugly Betty.”  Sure enough, we discovered America had decided to wear it on the show – and we were (and still are) so grateful!

America Ferrera & our Large Tie Tote on "Ugly Betty"

Things like these TV appearances have really helped put us on the map.  Granted, our company’s based in Los Angeles, so we’re kind of over the whole celebrity thing.  But when Adrian Grenier and America Ferrera are involved, given the stands they take in their public life, we feel extremely fortunate to be affiliated with them.

XOXO Marty

Everyone who attended wound up carrying one of the “White Rose” Cinchy Totes we made especially for the event.  Given that the symbol for the women’s health conference was a rose in full bloom, it seemed only appropriate – and, of course, it suited my friend Rose perfectly.

Packing all the goodies into our Cinchy Totes

And here are those beautiful bags lined up the day before the event, just waiting for the attendees.

Our "White Rose" Cinchy Totes, all lined up

We also set up a booth there and our wonderful office manager Alexis and I had a great time selling our beautiful Rebagz to the people there.  Our new Statement Makers were particularly popular, and one of our customers had a particularly touching story.

Carole Young - a true survivor

This is Carole Young.  She wound up buying one of our “Nipple” Tattletale Totes - and the reason she wanted that bag is because she’s a 19-year survivor of breast survivor.  All our “Nipple” Statement Makers Bags support the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. (I’ll talk more about them in an upcoming blog - promise!)  Like so many other cancer survivors I’ve met, Carole had a delightful sense of humor and you’d never know from how healthy she looked that she has had to battle this horrible disease.  It was an honor to meet her.

When the annoyances of running a business start to get to me, I remember people like Carole and all that they’ve been through.  It reminds me to be so grateful that I even have a business to run, and that I also have my health, a roof over my head and people in my life that I love so very much.

XOXO Marty

The memories of the war in Bosnia have grayed over time, especially because the images from our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are so vivid and raw.  But it’s important to remember it, and to remember how leaders held the conflict at arm’s distance because it wasn’t convenient to intervene.  The first Persian Gulf war had put everyone off - and then there was the “Black Hawk Down” debacle in Somalia.  There were no oil fields in Bosnia and, though the majority there are white, the people being attacked by the Christian Serbs were Muslim in faith.  Most inconvenient.

It’s taken 14 years to get to this trial.  Slobodan Mlosevic was brought to trial too, a few years ago, but accidentally overdosed on the medication he was taking to feign illness so he could delay his trial.  Like Pinochet before him, Mlosevic demanded sympathy for himself and yet none for his victims.

I know that these are not insane people.  (I refuse to call them “men” because I adore true men too much.)  Yet I cannot fathom the amount of hatred, disdain, selfishness, brutality and all other things evil they summon up to blot out the feelings - the very existence - of those they call “others.”

What does this have to do with eco-friendly handbags?  Not much that’s obvious.  But humans are a part of nature and deserve protecting too - and I also did humanitarian work in Chiapas, Mexico in the aftermath of the Zapatista rebellion.  I was there about the same time Karadzic and Mladic were perpetrating their cruelties on innocents.  I had my moments of danger in Chiapas, but they were nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what they suffered in Srebenica and Sarajevo.

Was it 1984 when the Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo?  That was only 11 years before the Srebenica massacre - and, mind you, that was not the only one.  Those Games were just 7 years before Mlosevic first went after the non-Serbs in then-Yugoslavia.  The world celebrates and parties in your city one year, then ignores the lakes of blood there a short while later.

I’m struggling not to be cynical about this because that doesn’t suit my personality.  I suppose I should dwell on the fact that the perpetrators have been pulled into court.  I just know there are tens of thousands who wish someone had cared enough to intervene.

XOXO Marty

Ah, samples. When new samples arrive, it’s occasionally a champagne moment, but more often than not I’ve had to reach for the Pepto Bismol. So when I got the first box of samples delivered to me when I was in New York for the Gift Fair, I hesitated before I opened it. I was so nervous! I took a deep breath and told myself that we could always do revisions, that there had to be a way to make these new bags work. I then took my little cuticle scissors – the only sharp thing I had – and cut the tape on the box.

"Polar Bear Love"
Off-the-Cuff Wristlet

I’m sure I must have scared the people in the next room because I shrieked that loud. They were that beautiful! And I was that relieved. We showed them to some of our customers at the Gift Fair and they loved them as much as we did. (Have a look here.)

I had big plans for the designs I’d developed for these bags, and now that I knew the line would work, I needed to start setting things in motion. That means coming up with a name for the line and aligning ourselves with organizations that I hoped would agree to let us donate proceeds from sales to them.

The name “Statement Makers” was the result of a very fun and illuminating strategy session with my dear friend and long-time publicist Lisa Elia.  We were brainstorming and “Statement Makers” just popped out of her mouth. Why was that the perfect name? Because from a distance, these bags are a style statement. But up close, they’re a personal statement – about peace, about environmentalism, or about being a she-geek. (Being smart is sexy again – ‘bout time!)

"Cubic"
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Bag

A big part of the Statement Makers vision is that they’re a way to show your point of view in a fun and amiable way. I don’t know about you, but all of us here at Half the Sky and Rebagz feel that all the nasty, noisy nonsense that dominates public dialogue right now is depleting, pointless and destructive. We strongly feel that one should have opinions, but have you noticed that a lot of the noisemakers don’t actually take a stand? Instead, they just tear down any idea they don’t like without offering any kind of sound, alternative solution to the problems facing us.

So that’s why we’ve aligned ourselves with the organizations that we have, and we’re proud and thrilled that they’ve accepted our invitation. Just so you know, I’m extremely picky about what non-profits we’ll work with, both here and abroad (where they’re called NGO’s – non-governmental organizations). Having done humanitarian work in Chiapas, Mexico and worked with organizations here as well, I’ve discovered there are a few very good groups and a lot of others that range from mediocre to downright awful.

The groups we chose to approach are ones that I know to have a strong track record for effectiveness in their arena. They’re part of the solution, and I can’t fully express how much I admire the work they do. I’ll be blogging about each one separately in the coming week or so, and I’ll highlight each of the new bag designs too.

So we proudly announce the launch of Statement Makers. It’s time to start the conversation…with style.

XOXO Marty

"Panda Love"
Shoulder-to-Shoulder Bag

Where did our Statement Makers come from?  About a year and a half ago, I started thinking that at some point I’d want to create a third branch of our Rebagz Eco-Chic Handbag line.  I wanted something I could really make my own in terms of the graphic design.  Don’t get me wrong – I love love love our recycled rice sack line and our colorful bags made from recycled juice packs.  But there were two issues I had.  First, when you’re making anything out of recycled materials, you sometimes have to wait for things to come through the recycling system – which means that production gets delayed, and your customers are stuck tapping their foot, waiting for their handbags.  And I like keeping our customers happy.

Second, from an artistic standpoint, I’d so far only been able to work with the colors of the juice packs or the graphics that were already printed on the rice sacks.  As much as I love the bags we have, my designer’s ego was getting the better of me.  I wanted to put my own visual stamp on my bags, damn it!

I thought of doing something along the lines of an organic cloth bag, made from cotton, bamboo or something like that.  I even considered silk.  But I wasn’t finding anything that I could really wrap my heart and eye around, plus there were other bags out there – beautiful ones – already made from these materials.
So what to do, what to do…

Well, it’s funny how things work.  At the beginning of the summer, our Philippine broker Malu mentioned that she’d found an organization that was making hand woven bags from a recycled material that could be printed on, and that had straps made from recycled plastic.  (I don’t like plastic, but it’s out there, so it needs a second life.)  This meant that we didn’t have to worry about production, seeing as this organization had located an abundance of these two materials to recycle.

It was a real “Eureka” moment for me.  (That term comes from the ancient scientist Archimedes, who ran naked through the streets of Syracusa one night…On second thought, I think I’ll just stick to handbags.)  It’s so wonderful to put a wish out there and then have what you’re seeking find its way to you.  I immediately set to work coming up with new designs and artwork, and then had samples made.

Up close & personal with our "Panda Love" design

(You can’t really see it in the photo, but it says “SAVE” in the black part of our “Panda Love” design.)

How did those samples turn out?  Stay tuned for Part 2.


XOXO Marty

Part 3 - Day-to-Day Life @ Rebagz
When the work day ends in Los Angeles, where our offices are, the work day is just beginning in the Philippines, so it’s not unusual for me to be up past midnight doing business by phone and email. But I consider myself incredibly fortunate to be working this hard because I know there are so many people who would love to be in my position.

I love talking to our customers. It’s actually one of my favorite things – seriously! Sometimes that’s the only social time I have all day. I encourage them, and our sales agents on the road, to give us feedback. We want to know the bad as well as the good so we can make our designs and the way we do business as user-friendly as possible. And if you’re one of our customers already, you’ve probably noticed how fantastic Rorey and Shasta are. I’m so lucky to have them working with me.

Our customers are the reason we’re as successful as we are, and one of the things that’s so vital to me is to celebrate every small inch of success and express my gratitude wherever and to whomever I can. We’ve had a lot of extraordinary opportunities that have seemingly fallen into our laps and I’m so grateful for each and every one of them.

For anyone thinking about getting into this sort of business, I highly encourage it! It’s incredibly rewarding. But in terms of creating one’s own design business, just realize fear is a part of it. Most people let the fear stop them, but there’s no true courage without fear, and you need a lot of guts to stick your neck out in fashion. When you have those dark, frustrating days, and I’ve had scores of them, just remember that if it was easy, everybody would be doing it - and succeeding at it. The only thing that can keep you down is if you choose not to get up again.

I think 3 parts is enough for my retrospective on Rebagz. Any more navel-gazing on my part and I’m afraid I’ll get a crick in my neck.

Thank YOU so much for all your support!

XOXO Marty

Part 2 - Designs, Designs, Designs
When it comes time to design bags for the new season, I come up with several ideas, which I then sketch out in detail and have the first set of samples made. I often travel to the Philippines to supervise the revisions of the samples – ‘cause there are always lots of revisions.

I work with my agent over there to determine what’s not only fashionable but feasible as well, because sometimes wonderful ideas just don’t translate gracefully to real life. There’s my imagination and then there are the perils of execution. How smoothly can the corners really be sewn? How easily can the weave accommodate the curves I want? I usually start out with between 12 and 14 ideas, end up with 8 to 10 sketches, and then usually end up introducing about 2 to 5 new designs per season.

I never went to design school, by the way. You don’t need to, and you certainly don’t need an MBA, either. What you do need is to know how to draw and sketch. But even these skills I taught myself to do. There are so many people who have a great eye and terrific ideas, but the two things most vital to success are so often never even considered by up-and-comers, and those things are working hard and being a good listener – the former being even more vital than the latter. Yes, you need a feel for color and dimension, for proportion and for where trends are going, but so much more than that working hard is the only way to succeed in any field.

I did have one very frustrating design situation. I’d found an adorable rice sack decorated with the cutest panda I’d ever seen. I couldn’t wait to work with this “fabric” and knew we could sell thousands of handbags made from them. Then I found out the sacks were from a discontinued brand of rice and there were only a couple of hundred sacks left. After tearing a few chunks of hair out in frustration, I came up with the idea of creating a Limited Edition line – Rebagz L.E. – for situations like this. Our L.E. handbags celebrate the unique beauty and rarity of the Panda sack and others like it, and remind us that many things around us have limits too.

So when challenges like these present emerge, look for the opportunity inside the problem. There’s virtually always something there that can benefit you.

XOXO Marty

Warning: it’s a long story, so I’m going to break it up into a few parts. Otherwise you’d be scrolling for days…

How It All Began…Part 1
I’d been making hand-crafted jewelry with my friend and co-author Christine Calla (“Beading Vintage Style Jewelry”/Sterling Publishing) and wanted to expand the company. Christine had grown up in the Philippines and she suggested I head there with my ideas for handbags. I originally began making my samples out of fabric, but when I discovered this beautiful recycled weave being made by a fair-trade organization, it just made sense to work with them to create some of my designs.

I started the rice sack line, however, from absolute scratch, literally roaming the markets in search of rice merchants to see what sacks they had – and then trying to convince the rice sellers to sell the used ones to me to make handbags. That request got a lot of strange looks. Yes, I was the crazy American woman who wanted to buy the empty sacks of rice, not the full ones.

Given that I did humanitarian work in Mexico following the Zapatista rebellion and that my mama was a serious recycler, the choice to work with recycled materials was an obvious one. You have to remember that people have been using rice, flour and feed sacks for hundreds of years to make rough clothing.

For design ideas, I read magazines, go to museums, go to the mall – all these things give me ideas. But for the most part I simply consider what I’d like in a bag (that’s how our All-in-One Wallet and Sport Pouch came about) and also what shapes and colors please my eye.

I also like creating bags with curves because my corporation’s called Half the Sky Designs LLC, as in the saying, “Women hold up half the sky.” That’s why I created the Cinchy Totes with curves and designed our circular award-winning “Life is a Circle” Bag.

In case you’re looking for Part 2 and Part 3, just follow the links. (If you’d like a sneak peek of our Statement Makers, check out the new slide show on our Rebagz homepage.

XOXO Marty

Usually what happens is that I get an attraction to a particular note, and then I’m off finding perfumes that feature it. For instance, I love the smell of real violets. This is a tough one, because their flowers don’t give themselves up to perfume (only the earthier-smelling leaves do) so for years I had a quest to find the best synthetic violet. I’ve narrowed it to two basic sources, Borsari’s Violetta di Parma, and the violet Guerlain uses in a few different scents like Apres L’Ondee, Meteorites, and Insolence.

Of course, all of this sniffing research requires tracking the scents down. In that short list I just mentioned, Meteorites is discontinued, and Apres L’Ondee is only available in Europe.  So a serious perfumista has to have connections. I adore The Perfumed Court, which will send you samples of their hundreds of rare and expensive and discontinued perfumes if you just ask them nicely and pay them a little bit of money. This is super as it gives you the opportunity to decide if something’s full bottle- worthy instead of purchasing it online un-sniffed because you’ve been seduced by the description (that’s never happened to me, of course).

Once my mind has processed “magnolia” as a perfume ingredient, it will move on to work, because our rice sack bags with the magnolia graphic look at me all day long and declare what they are. Alexis, our office manager, is possibly as enthusiastic about the topic of perfume as I am. She has a Magnolia Cinchy Tote that sits near me. And when I’m on my way to the fridge for vanilla soy milk I’m greeted by the Magnolia  Small Cinchy Totes, our product of the week. Regularly $52.00, they’re $39.00 through the end of next Tuesday.

Magnolia Smally Cinchy Tote

All the Best Smells to You,

Bonny