Pressure builds on Dolce & Gabbana to ban sandblasting

A new petition was hosted by Change.org  targeting Dolce and Gabbana at the start of July and so far some 32,000 people have signed to call on D&G to make a public ban on sandblasting.  When people started writing messages  on the D&G Facebook wall expressing their disgust at sandblasting and the lack of action by D&G, the company responded by deleting the wall posts – in a similar fashion to Versace management who also took down messages supporting our campaign.

Sandblasting is a dangerous and deadly process which involves workers firing sand at jeans under high pressure. It has been known to kill workers within months as the inhalation of large amounts of silica dust generated during sandblasting causes silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease.

A number of major brands, such as Levi's, H&M, C&A, Gucci have already abolished sandblasted jeans in their collections and publicly supported a ban.

However, before the launch of the public campaign Dolce & Gabbana had explicitly informed the Clean Clothes Campaign that they have no interest in banning sandblasting, despite conclusive evidence and numerous deaths demonstrating how dangerous the practice is.

After an intensive campaign launched by the Clean Clothes Campaign and hosted by Change.org, the Italian textile brand Versace finally announced in July that it will join the call for a ban  -  previously they had refused to join and refused to provide details of their production.