No Sweat Apparel
Encyclopedia
No Sweat Apparel is an American clothing brand, manufactured by Bienestar International, which retails union
-made, sweatshop
-free clothing, shoes, and accessories. NSA is primarily focused on human rights issues. The company was formed in 2000.
All NSA products are created by independent union members in the United States
, Canada
, and the developing world, including Indonesia
and Nicaragua
. The company officials describe their company as the first "open-source" clothing manufacturer, meaning that they attempt to show consumers where their products come from, as well as the working conditions under which their products were created. The NSA website contains information on the companies from whom they buy, as well as factsheets detailing the wages and rights that they claim are afforded to the factory workers who created the products.
No Sweat Apparel uses minimal advertisement, relying mainly on word-of-mouth and free product placement
. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, there are several public transit benches with No Sweat advertisements, featuring the white hemp sneaker. NSA claimed a 750-percent increase in sales in 2005.
No Sweat Apparel shuttered its online store in January, 2010. http://nosweatapparel.com/products/closing.html
NSA counts Nobel Peace Prize
recipient Jody Williams
, Oscar
-winning screenwriter
J. Larner (The Candidate
), and musician Billy Bragg
among its customers.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
-made, sweatshop
Sweatshop
Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...
-free clothing, shoes, and accessories. NSA is primarily focused on human rights issues. The company was formed in 2000.
All NSA products are created by independent union members in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and the developing world, including Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
. The company officials describe their company as the first "open-source" clothing manufacturer, meaning that they attempt to show consumers where their products come from, as well as the working conditions under which their products were created. The NSA website contains information on the companies from whom they buy, as well as factsheets detailing the wages and rights that they claim are afforded to the factory workers who created the products.
No Sweat Apparel uses minimal advertisement, relying mainly on word-of-mouth and free product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, there are several public transit benches with No Sweat advertisements, featuring the white hemp sneaker. NSA claimed a 750-percent increase in sales in 2005.
No Sweat Apparel shuttered its online store in January, 2010. http://nosweatapparel.com/products/closing.html
NSA counts Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
recipient Jody Williams
Jody Williams
Jody Williams is an American teacher and aid worker who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the campaign she worked for, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines...
, Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
J. Larner (The Candidate
The Candidate (1972 film)
The Candidate is a 1972 American film starring Robert Redford. Its themes include how the political machine corrupts. There are many parallels between the then-recent 1970 California Senate election between John V. Tunney and George Murphy; however, Redford's character Bill McKay is a political...
), and musician Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
among its customers.