OT - Gear Change? Game Change.
Thinking about this current merchandising debate.... Couple thoughts: 1. Fuck all of the piece of shit child-labor ass holes who profit from our fandom. 2. Let's be a leader and design and sew our own gear (responsibly).
Many current athletes are going into fashion design to augment their careers. Why not destroy the curve and start allowing student athletes to do the same. Differentiate. Create a program around it. Let the athletes design and develop their own lines and selectively develop some that go to game-time. Find local production shops to produce and distribute. Give student athletes the same advantages that CS students have developing code for Andriod and IOS or other students have to capitalize on their talents and interests. Change the game. Fuck the brands that hold us hostage. Create jobs and show leadership.
Maybe we would have professional athletes with better fashion sense if they could spend their college years preparing for a career designing clothes. . . I mean, isn’t that a key responsibility for individuals who will derive the majority of their income as spokespeople for apparel companies?
But really, I can only imagine Jake Butt hand stiching little block-M's into his own warm ups. It is just such a heartwarming image!
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Yeah, you're completely right, I totally agree. No /s.
FWIW I left an ivy league school and transferred to Michigan; it was hard as hell to get in directly as an out-of-stater (UofM looks kindly on ivy league defectors, but that is way off topic).
I am actually pretty into the OP's broader notion that schools might provide broad-ranging relevant professional training for student-athletes—be it in fashion or some other field. Sports management and kinesiology are the go-to majors for football and basketball players, but I would love to see students gain competency in areas that relate to the countless opportunities and challenges that they may be confronted by as professional athletes (opportunities and challenges that most of us will never encounter in our own careers, btw).
I am not sure what academic discipline would develop these skills. If I were a pro athlete, I would probably invest my celebrity in reforming apparel manufacturing (n.b. the cautionary tale of Dov Charney). But I like to think that the current generation of young people will have their own causes to champion, and I hope that Michigan prepares them well for this task.
Also. . . OP/2many, I dig the thread and the conversation. It pulled me out of my long-time status as an inveterate lurker.
Crowdsource this and it is a guaranteed clusterfuck. There is no sensible way this would end well.
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Liberal Paul Krugman actually argued that stopping child labor although noble in intentions caused horrible unintended consequences.
The children in those countries needed the money to help feed themselves and their family and were working in the sweatshops because that was the best option that they had. After sweatshops were closed down the kids entered prostitution and other worse jobs to keep their income up, but couldn't make as much money as in the sweatshops.
Many of the child labors ended up dead, with disease or worse health after losing their jobs from stopping child labor in sweatshops.
The problem isn't so much the sweatshop itself, it is a dysfunctional economy, government and society in those places.
Just something to think about on a complicated issue.
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The wages they are paid definitely would not support a family in this country, but are we sure they aren't livable wages in those particular countries? (Not a rhetorical question - I don't know the answer.)
You think we've had issues with jersey quality before? Let's try to get a local shop to mass produce uniforms and merchandise for a whole university. Would be a disaster
The reason that Nike, Adidas, and UA have the whole industry isn't because we're being "held hostage". It's because they're capable and they're the best. Sorry the man is holding you down
Just as long as you are OK with a 20+% increase in ticket prices
I am tired of these cheap iphones for $600 without subsidies. We should build them here and pay the $1500 they are actually worth.
The japanese wrecked america by bringing in ther stupid fuel efficient cars. Nothing better than to watch a 1970's movie set in NY and see all those gas sipping american cars. The heck with saving the planet!
Who?
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I don't know anything about what he's designed, but regardless one guy ain't "many."
Who else?
Anyway, we will have a decision by fall and adidas will not be representing the University of Michigan any longer. 2016 will be a swoosh!
This is a really good idea
Even if it's a bit pie in the sky. But failing that, why not force the companies to produce at least some of our gear in the US? It only costs marginally more to manufacture textiles domestically and I think a decent chunk of the fan base would be willing to pay a significant mark-up for high quality US made gear.
At the very least get New Balance to make the shoes. Yes they cost more, but I like knowing that my jogging shoes helped the US economy in some small way.
New Balance uses over 70% in domestically sourced materials in at least some of their products and many of them are assembled in the US. Obviously, the more domestic content and assembly that goes into the shoe, the higher the price. You are correct in that some of the materials used are no longer produced in the US (a certain type of foam or rubber IIRC), but there's no reason why production couldn't be on-shored again. Maybe once shipping costs become prohibitively expensive due to the price of oil.
25 years ago we bought almost nothing from China, and we did just fine. Yes, all of our electronics came from Japan, but at least the people making them were paid a living wage. And the factories didn't have suicide nets.
Also, 1+ for your post below. All of this makes me sick too.
You should go on Shark Tank.
If you just want things done from a design perspective, I'm sure we could put that language in the contract and see if Nike or whomever bites.
If you're talking about producing, based on your child labor line, that would get expensive and likely only maintainable if you worked with another university. You need to pay for facilities, materials, and most importantly, labor. You figure out a reasonable way to handle that, and you might be on to something.
Much of the clothing that you and I own and wear is sourced from factories exploiting child labor and even enslaved labor (e.g. Jordanian factories importing workers and taking their passports and withholding wages), in conditions where women are routinely raped, employees are beaten by the police if they protest, wages are withheld, labor laws are merely window dressing and are largely ignored. Some companies try really hard to source responsibly and will react when they are aware of exploitation (e.g. Target, Kohls), some don't give a damn (e.g. Walmart), and some rely on a business model where intermediary companies can shift operations quickly to new manufacturing centers with cheap labor and willing authorities when things heat up in a particular market (e.g. our suitors, Adidas and Nike).
It's a constant battle and fighting it in a socially responsible way requires a different business model that won't work for the biggest players. There is at least one smaller apparel manufacturer that has deals with many college programs, not to supply their official uniforms, but to produce t-shirts and the like. Knights Apparel takes socially responsible sourcing very seriously. The problem is, they are small (they were sold recently for about $200M), they don't have the money to change the game. The only way the game is going to change is if there is a large boycott movement calling for boycotting and divestiture, but good luck with that. People want cool-looking apparel with a brand name on it.
The whole thing sickens me, that's why I have not said anything about this competition to be the next UM suitor to produce official gear made in sweatshops. There will be nothing to celebrate when the decision is announced.
So you are proposing instead to take 10-20M jobs away from poor countries like Bhangladesh, Jordan, Thailand, etc. and instead make these clothes in the US and have them be 5 times as expensive? Sounds great for more jobs in the US until you realize that US workers are too expensive and would be replaced by machines.
So the net effect on humanity would be fewer jobs worldwide, more abject poverty in very very poor countries, lots more clothing expense for Americans, and a few more brainy jobs in the US designing robots to make clothes. Win all around?
In this situation I actually agree with the OP, I would much rather see only a block M on the jersey. It makes me unhappy to see corporate logos on the jerseys of our players, regardless of the company. Something designed and made here in Michigan perhaps by students would be more special. Great idea.
The only catch is $$$, and in this case the money is very significant and goes towards funding secondard sports at UM like track, field hockey, etc. I think you have to do it for money, and in that case I would just take the highest offer and negotiate the logos to be as small as possible.
I like Nike. What do they do that is wrong?