Sri Lanka's 'Garments without Guilt' campaign launched in Europe

Sri Lanka Apparel (SLA) launched its "Garments without Guilt" initiative in Europe this week at the Fatex Fair held in Paris.

The Garments without Guilt initiative focuses on ethical manufacture and sustainable development assuring the industry's commitment to ethical working conditions, free of child labour, free of forced labour, free of discrimination and free of sweatshop practices, SLA said in a statement.

Sri Lanka Apparel is the public face of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), which is the apex body of the industry, whose membership represents all of the Apparel and Textile businesses in Sri Lanka."Children have no business in our business" is just one of the principles governing Sri Lanka Apparel's industry ethos. The others include providing a better quality of life to the apparel workers through rural poverty alleviation, women's empowerment, education and implementing environmental initiatives minimizing damage to the environment.

Sri Lanka's Apparel Industry, dynamic and forward moving with over 30 years experience, has been at the forefront of industrial excellence and social responsibility in Asia, conforming and complying with the norms of ethical sourcing backed by strong legislation. And over the past decade as the global interest focused on how, where and by whom products were made, Sri Lanka Apparel was already ahead of the curve putting their own inherent ethical thinking into practice. Commenting on the impact of empowerment of women in the industry,Ajith Dias, Chairman of Sri Lanka Apparel stated, "Women in our industry have become change agents on a wide range of issues from children's education, better healthcare to improved working conditions. By creating a more equitable society, we are making a profound impact on the quality of life of the people and the development of our society."

Sri Lanka Apparel has already commissioned Swiss based SGS Group, world's largest organization in the field of inspection, verification, testing and certification, to monitor the Sri Lanka Apparel Code of Conduct Audits.

The Sri Lanka Apparel delegation at FATEX is headed by its Chairman Ajith Dias and includes prominent garment manufacturers such as MAS Holdings, Penguin Group, Union Apparels, Garment Services, Jubilee Apparels, Denshun Industries and Alexandra Industries.

The product capabilities on display will range from intimate apparel,sportswear, leisurewear, children's wear, formal wear and garments with varying washed effects to hand flat knits and computerized auto fashioned knits as well as embellishments including hand worked sequin beads and embroideries.