BTCS Course Development Grant Program is Sponsoring

THE SECOND LIFE OF FASHION:
The Global Re-circulation of Our Cast-Off Clothing

Friday, April 23, 2004
Pyle Center Auditorium
702 Langdon St.
1:00 Panel Presentations and Discussion
2:30 Film Screening, followed by panelists responses

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Professor Beverly Gordon
Environment, Textiles & Design Department/ Folklore Program
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1300 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Do you ever wonder what happens to all of our discarded clothing? Are all of the old sweaters, coats or pants that we stuff in Salvation Army or Goodwill boxes sold at reduced prices in their thriftstores? Not by a long shot! A small percentage of the garments are put out on the racks and re-sold. Other garments are literally taken apart and made into rags. However, fully half of the material donated to these organizations is actually shipped overseas to the Third World. There, in other cultural contexts, our discards have a second (or third or fourth) life. In Africa and Latin America, in particular, there are large and thriving secondhand markets that have created new systems of distribution and exchange, new types of entrepreneurs (in the capital city in Zambia, there were 2,500 such individuals in 1995), and even new fashion trends.

Join us for a closer look at this phenomenon. Our symposium will feature a panel discussion with individuals involved with the global recycling of fashion, and a screening of T-Shirt Travels, a recent documentary film. Speakers include an academic expert-- Karen Tranberg Hansen, anthropology professor at Northwestern University and author of Salaula: The World of Secondhand Clothing and Zambia, which documents the global clothing trade and the new Zambian entrepreneurs and clothing norms as well as representatives from local businesses involved in the recycling trade. Ralph Middlecamp, Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul in Madison, and a spokesperson from the local Goodwill Industries will speak about what happens in their plants and how decisions are made about what to ship overseas. We will then learn about the commercial distributors that take material from the local agencies and sell it internationally from Bob Woycke, President of Continental Textile Company in Milwaukee, which processes 250,000 pounds of used clothing a week.