The Zambian term salaula means "to select from a pile in the manner of rummaging" or for short, "to pick".
[
] Some African nations such as
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
have a vast internal consumer demand for second-hand clothes or hand-me-downs from rich nations in North America and Europe. The clothes arrive in these local markets in large bales or packages and are then cut open so buyers can sort through them and pick what article they like the most.
The Salaula industry faces many criticisms. One is that it tends to disturb the internal textile industry. Local textile business cannot compete with cheap used clothes coming from abroad. Defendants of the industry argue that market demand should dictate what is fair or not.
Another criticism is towards the profit companies are generating from these clothes since these clothes were originally donated to non-profit organizations such as
Goodwill. Defendants of the practice argue that non-profit organization must sell these donations in order to acquire money necessary to fund their social projects.
See also
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Global trade of secondhand clothing
The global trade of secondhand clothing has a long history. Until the mid 19th century, second hand clothing was an important way of acquiring clothing. Only through industrialization, mass production, and increasing income, was the general publi ...
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Mitumba (clothing)
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Sustainable clothing
Sustainable fashion (also known as eco-fashion) is a term describing products, processes, activities, and actors (policymakers, brands, consumers) aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral fashion industry, built on equality, social justice, animal w ...
References
Further reading
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* {{cite journal , title=Second-Hand Clothing Encounters in Zambia: Global Discourses, Western Commodities, and Local Histories , author=Hansen, Karen Tranberg , journal=
Africa: Journal of the International African Institute , year=1999 , volume=69 , issue=3 , pages=343–365 , publisher=Cambridge University Press, jstor = 1161212, doi = 10.2307/1161212
African culture
African clothing
Fashion industry
Economy of Zambia
Zambian culture
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