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It will come as no surprise that I’m deeply passionate about NZ-made. The ethical practices, smaller environmental footprint, and supporting our clever makers here in Aotearoa all make my heart sing! I’ve been making clothes in New Zealand for over 20 years and have seen the ins and outs of the industry. I’ve seen how attitudes change, how politics affects accessibility, and how social media has influenced our perceptions.
Without a doubt, NZ-made is beautiful through and through. But, like anything, something has to give. There’s always a drawcard. And with NZ-made, this drawcard is the price that the customer pays. It’s no secret that NZ-made products and garments typically have a significantly higher price tag. If this wasn’t the case and NZ-made products were competitively priced with mass-imported goods, I have complete faith that we’d all be shopping NZ-made and living happily ever after!
We live in a world with thousands of stores at our fingertips. Our phones are teeming with ad after ad, each boasting an unbelievably lower price. If you walk out the door, there are department stores and malls everywhere, using clever marketing tactics to lure us in. You can get a t-shirt for $8, undies for $10, and a dress for $19.99. There is no way around this. Cheap, imported clothing is everywhere, and we’re being smothered by it at every turn.
NZ-made can’t compete
Here’s the crux. NZ-made can’t compete with the prices of imported fast fashion. It is impossible to make garments cheaply in Aotearoa. Garments made overseas tend to cost less to purchase because they cost less to manufacture.
NZ-made clothing is produced in alignment with ethical manufacturing standards. This means that the workers are paid fairly, the working conditions are safe, and the materials are often picked with longevity in mind.
Abiding by these ethical standards costs significantly more than producing garments in places where wages and working standards are lower. Mass-produced clothing from countries like China, India, or Bangladesh is often made by workers who are severely underpaid and work in dangerous conditions. This cuts the cost for consumers, but it’s important to question how the real cost of these savings impacts the lives of those workers and the environment.
Let’s talk numbers
The higher cost of NZ-made garments mostly boils down to labour.
Clothing makers in New Zealand are paid at least a minimum wage of $23.15/hour, with many earning around $25 - $30/hour. This allows people to afford the necessities and to live with dignity.
In comparison, garment workers in Bangladesh earn around $136 NZD/month*. This equates to approximately $4.50 NZD/day. Garment workers often have little choice but to work overtime to supplement their wages and meet high-pressured deadlines, with some working more than 96 hours per week. This minimum wage is barely a third of the calculated living wage in Bangladesh, meaning many workers cannot afford the basics like food for themselves and their families.
And materials, too
Just like wages, the materials used to make clothing also cost substantially more in New Zealand. Aotearoa is a small place and doesn’t have the manufacturing abilities of larger countries. This means that the fabrics used to make garments are imported, often from far away, again raising the cost.
Other costs
On top of labour and materials, there are other expenses associated with running a business in New Zealand. There’s GST to pay, overheads like power and water, an accountant, and a website just to name a few. These are all factored into the end price that the consumer pays.
Voting with your dollar
The question of choosing NZ-made or not boils down to two things: values and accessibility.
Values are easy. Most of us value workers being paid fairly and taking home enough money to put food on the table. Most of us value workers having enough time to spend with their families and working in safe conditions.
I’m fairly sure that most of us also value supporting those in our community. We love to support a small business over a bigger, overseas brand. It feels so good to know that your purchase has a direct, positive impact on the person who made your clothes. Your purchase doesn’t harm them; it lifts them up.
The profits of fast fashion directly perpetrate the exploitation of vulnerable garment workers. This well-worn system won’t change unless consumers demand better. This can only be done by hitting the large companies where it hurts - in the pocket.
However, purchasing NZ-made is not choice based on values alone. If it were, this would be easy! Unfortunately, the higher price point of NZ-made garments and products can make them more inaccessible, especially during these difficult economic times.
I get it. I’m in the thick of these tricky times too.
Overall, it boils down to doing the best you can. Remembering that no choice needs to be black and white - there are many decisions in between that are also impactful. If choosing NZ-made every time is out of reach, there are other ways to make a choice that aligns with your values of not contributing to harm.
Choosing secondhand goods rather than buying new, being more intentional with your purchases, and going to clothing swaps are all great ways to not support harmful practices. Taking sewing lessons to learn how to make your clothes last and opting for repairs rather than replacements are also powerful choices. Researching the fast fashion industry, learning about the true cost of cheap, mass-produced clothing on the workers and the environment, and sharing what you learn can also have a great impact.
Supporting NZ-made businesses in other ways is also amazing, and please believe me when I tell you that it means so much to us! Leaving a review, recommending us to others, and sharing or commenting on our social media posts are all hugely helpful in our everlasting bid to be seen in the algorithm.
If you can, do
If you do have the means to make NZ-made purchases, then by all means, please do! You’ll be supporting families in your community to pay bills, put food on the table, and to be able to live with dignity. Plus, you’ll be choosing products that you can trust are ethically made, with a limited environmental impact as they’re unlikely to be made wastefully or in large quantities. Best of all, you’ll be rebelling against the throwaway culture of fast fashion, where both human lives and the environment are merely an afterthought. Although we may be small in numbers, collectively rejecting the practices of fast fashion and overconsumption is powerful. This is where change is born.
As a bonus, NZ-made garments and products tend to be of higher quality than their mass-produced counterparts. This is because they tend to be designed with durability in mind, as opposed to fast fashion which isn’t made to last in an ongoing lure to get you to buy more.
In short
NZ-made products and garments are more expensive because they can’t be undercut. They aren't made at the expense of vulnerable people or large-scale environmental degradation. All fashion comes at a price, it’s just a question of who pays.
We proudly make NZ-made clothing and accessories here on the Kāpiti Coast, paying our small team a Living Wage. See our garments here or visit us in-store at 8 Main Road, Waikanae.
*For extra information, I highly recommend reading Oxfam Aotearoa's What She Makes: A Journey To A Living Wage.
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