Fashion never ceases to amaze us: one day you see vertiginous high heels on a runway, the next physically impairing evening gowns appear on the red carpet. But we hadn't seen any radioactive belts on the market yet.
Well, at least until yesterday when news quickly spread on the Internet about clothing retailer Asos recalling a batch of metal-studded belts because they tested positive for Cobalt-60 by U.S. border control.
As The Guardian reported, the offending belts - currently held in a radioactive storage facility - may cause injury to the wearer if worn for more than 500 hours. According to a report called "Project Purple Flower" produced by an external regulator, the incident is actually quite common. As the report states, during the refining process of scrap metal, "orphaned radioactive sources are sometimes accidentally melted at the same time".
Asos is currently in a dispute with Haq International, the Indian group which the firm said supplied the belts, even though there are some uncertainties over whether the manufacturer was the supplier of the product in its integrity or if Haq actually bought the studs from elsewhere.
So after tragic accidents in factories in Bangladesh and Cambodia that reminded us all the true costs of fast fashion, the radioactive metal scare poses a new question. How many workers may have been contaminated during the manufacturing processes of such accessories and do we as consumers actually already own pieces that may be contaminated? After all, if the original Indian manufacturer bought the studs somewhere else, the supplier of the studs may have already sold other radioactive bits and pieces to other companies working for other retailers or other fashion houses.
Incidents involving radioactive scrap metal are not new yet it's somehow very strange consumers were never alerted about such perils in garments and accessories (after all this is definitely not a problem that regards only India where in this case the belts were manufactured, but the entire world and all those people dealing with scrap metals).
Another unusual fashion-related story is that involving former Prada employee Rina Bovrisse who has now turned to the UN to sort her lawsuit against Prada Japan.
The lawsuit has been going on for four years now and regards allegations of discrimination and harassment.
The ex-retail manager for Prada's Japanese division sued the company claiming she was asked to fire store managers and retail staff whom Prada Japan CEO David Sesia found "old, fat, ugly, disgusting, or did not have the Prada look" (Mr Sesia, we thought you embraced ugliness since Prada is all about "ugly chic").
Last year a Tokyo District Court ruled that Prada's behaviour was discriminatory, but that such treatment was acceptable for a luxury fashion label and in the fashion industry ("discriminatory behaviour" acceptable?) and that a well-compensated female employee should be able to withstand a certain level of harassment. But Bovrisse - who has also a petition on Change.org about the issue - took her case to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that urged Japan to outlaw sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
While the saga continues as Prada countersued Bovrisse for damaging the brand (even though Judge Reiko Morioka and Prada’s attorneys previously acknowledged that discrimination had in fact occurred), you're warned: if you ever venture out shopping, remember, doing it may be like having a trip through Sergio Corbucci's Wild West, so bring your own Geiger counter and a UN officer. They will be incredibly useful if you have to fight against an invisible health and safety risk or if a manager in a luxury fashion label store attacks you for not having the "Prada look" (whatever that is). Ah, who could have ever thought that being a simple, unsassuming consumer in 2013 would have been such a difficult and stressful business.
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