GET 50% OFF YOUR FIRST YEAR!

Limited time - use promo code: ANNUAL at checkout

Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

The Secret Life of Your Clothes

"It's the Economy, Stupid!" • 59m

Directed by Andy Wells • Documentary • 2016 • 59 minutes

Each year, we give thousands of tons of our unwanted clothes to charity. But where do they actually go? It turns out most are exported to Africa. And even though we have given them away for free, our castoffs have created a multimillion-dollar industry and some of the world's poorest people pay good money to buy them.

In this revealing film, charismatic paralympian Ade Adepitan tells the fascinating story of the afterlife of our clothes. He follows the trail to Ghana, the biggest importer of our castoffs where thousands of tons of our old clothes arrive every week. Ade meets the people who make a living from our old clothes, from wholesalers and markets traders to the importers raking in more than the average yearly wage in a single day!

But not everyone is profiting. With cheaply made western clothes flooding the market, the local textile industry has been decimated. And the deluge of our clothes isn't just destroying jobs; it has an effect on Ghanaian culture. Western outfits are fast replacing traditional garb.

Tags
ade adepitan, africa, african studies, anthropology and archaeology, area studies, bullfrog films, business, castoff clothes, charity, consumers, cultural anthropology, destroying jobs, development, disposable fashion, doc, econjustice, economic anthropology, economic geography, economics, environment, expository, far eastern fakes, fast fashion, geography, ghana, ghanaian culture, ghanaian fashion, globalization, human geography, importers, informal sector, kente cloth, kumasi, labor and economics, local economies, local textile industry, marketers, ovid, ovid_ca, psychology and mental health, retail sector, s_0055, s_0065, s_0081, s_0082, s_0085, s_0126, s_0149, s_0180, s_0260, s_0263, s_0274, s_0343, s_0447, s_0459, s_0601, s_0607, s_0636, sectors, social psychology, sociology, sub-saharan africa, sustainability, textiles sector, the secret life of your clothes, thrift stores, title_nopqrs, title_s, trade, traditional clothing, western clothes flooding market, wholesalers, world regions

Up Next in "It's the Economy, Stupid!"

  • Master of the Universe
    1:32:17
    Master of the Universe

    Master of the Universe

    Directed by Marc Bauder • Documentary • With Rainer Voss, Angela Merkel • 2014 • 88 minutes

    A brilliant documentary dissecting the global financial system as told by leading German investment banker Rainer Voss. A real life former master of the universe, Voss gives a disturbing insider's account...

  • Howard Zinn: A People's History of th...
    1:30:28
    Howard Zinn: A People's History of th...

    Howard Zinn: A People's History of th...

    Directed by Olivier Azam, Daniel Mermet • Documentary • With Howard Zinn • 2016 • 100 minutes

    "As long as rabbits don't have historians, history will be written by the hunters."

    With the tremendous success of his book, A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn radically changed the w...

  • Waiting for the Carnival
    1:25:48
    Waiting for the Carnival

    Waiting for the Carnival

    Directed by Marcelo Gomes • Documentary • 2019 • 86 minutes

    The small village of Toritama is a microcosm of relentless capitalism. Each year, more than 20-million pairs of jeans are produced in make-shift factories. The locals work non-stop hours, proud to be the masters of their own time. Durin...

×