It’s not the first time Target’s fashion department is making headlines. You probably remember how these floral farm dresses from Target got roasted so badly online that there was even a #TargetDressChallenge. This time, however, a cute little crochet sweater is in the spotlight. You may wonder what’s wrong with it, and TikTokers have some eye-opening answers.
“Something’s fishy about it,” TikToker @seatrick said in a viral video adding that “everyone who's ever tried to knit or crochet anything is gasping at that price.” Turns out, this boho piece will set you back $35. Sounds like a bargain? Well, the low price hides something much more sinister as, apparently, no industrial machines could replicate such a delicate pattern, @seatrick claims.
Meanwhile, another TikToker, @MattRose1312, calculated the amount of time it would take to crochet a sweater like that, and it’s a clear red flag of human labor. All the arguments stack up and you can see how sinister fast fashion can be.
Image credits: target
Image credits: target
Image credits: target
To find out what experts have to say about Target’s infamous crochet sweater and whether it’s really possible to make one for a retail price of $35, we spoke with Danute Rasimaviciute. Danute is the co-founder of “The Knotty Ones,” a sustainable knitwear label that celebrates the Baltic craft of knitting and the people behind their clothes. They employ female artisans in rural Lithuania to produce their knits, giving them a living wage, financial independence, and a voice in their households and communities. Danute told us that they use natural materials only and put sustainability at their core.
When asked whether it’s possible to make a crochet sweater for a retail price of $35, Danute said that the short answer is no. “At least not without sacrificing the wellbeing of people making our clothes,” she said.
According to Tiktoker @seatrick, there are multiple reasons why this price tag for a crochet piece like this is impossible
Image credits: seatrick
Image credits: seatrick
Image credits: seatrick
Image credits: seatrick
Moreover, The Knotty Ones had a number of their artisans take a look at Target’s crochet sweater and they estimate that it would take roughly 24 hours of non-stop crocheting. “That is 3 full business days, assuming 8-hour working days,” Danute said. “There are multiple color yarns used for the cardigan, meaning that there would be a lot of loose yarn endings. All of these need to be nearly tucked and covered which is really time-consuming,” she added.
“You also have to take into account the cost of the yarn itself, labels, transport of all raw materials, photoshoots, transport to the stores, not even talking about Target's margin,” Danute explained. “We estimate that there was roughly 600g of yarn used for this crochet piece. The price for a kilo of cotton yarn could range anywhere from $3.5 to as much as $100/kg for more premium, hand-dyed sustainable yarns.”
Danute argues that this definitely begs the question of how the cheapest yarns were produced and what people got paid there. “When you do the math, it's pretty clear that people who crochet the piece, assuming it was done by hand, made even less than $1 an hour, so literally cents,” she told us.
Another TikToker @Mattrose1312 calculated how long it would take to hand crochet a sweater like Target's
Image credits: seatrick
Image credits: seatrick
When asked whether it’s possible to make such a crochet sweater with an industrial machine, Danute from The Knotty Ones told us that without carefully inspecting the product, they cannot be 100% sure: “our production team, our partner factories and our artisans themselves are not familiar with a knitting or a crochet machine currently available on that market that could create these patterns.”
Danute continued that if The Knotty Ones had to take an educated guess, “we would say that it's most likely crocheted by hand. Even if some parts like cardigan cuffs could be made using a knitting machine, you have to remember that there are still real people sewing all the pieces together.”
Then, @Mattrose1312 figured out the wage that Target would pay for a person to make it and the results were shocking
Here is the full video that @Mattrose1312 shared on TikTok
Meanwhile, @seatrick continued to break down the problematic aspects of the crochet sweater that didn't just end there
Image credits: seatrick
Danute warns that with so many fast fashion options on the market, it's easy to get a wrong sense of what certain items should cost. “If Target or any other fast fashion retailer is selling a piece of clothing for $35, it sets the bar for the market. Why would you buy something for $200 when you could pay $35 for a similar item, right?”
It’s no secret that not many of us ask ourselves ‘at whose expense?’ we’re buying such a cheap piece. “The reality is that it often comes at the expense of garment workers, the most vulnerable people in the supply chain,” she added.
Here is the full video from @seatrick that calls out Target for selling the sweater
The author later added some more details to it
Yet another person pointed out that shockingly, Target admitted the sweater is hand-crocheted
“I always say that we vote with our wallets. i.e. each time we consume a product or service, we support certain values and encourage certain behaviors,” Danute explained and concluded that everyone should try and “buy quality pieces that will last for many years, if not decades.”
People had a lot to say about this whole issue as they shared their thoughts in the comments
