There’s a new display in the front window of Student Stores. UNC sweatshirts hang on mannequins and attractive models sport Tar Heel emblazoned tote bags. But this one has an extra element unseen before on campus: the pictures of the factory workers who spun, dyed, sewed, silk screened, ironed and packaged the Carolina blue clothes which hang on gold hangers just inside the doors.
Welcome to Schoolhouse -— a combination of style and Sri Lanka — founded by Rachel Weeks, age 24.
Weeks has a passion for feminism, reflected best by the title of her undergraduate thesis: “The Wonder Bra: Theorizing Globalization, Women’s Labor, and Consumption for Twenty-First Century Feminism.” But the two didn’t easily mix.
“I was always struggling to find the gray area in between,” she says.
The majority of clothing sold in the U.S. is produced abroad, with many of the workers being women and earning less than a dollar a day. Though Weeks was not able to overhaul the entire garment production model, she was able to find a place to make a difference and use both her passions.
Weeks founded Schoolhouse in hopes of benefitting all women involved — she didn’t have to disregard her appreciation for both equal rights and espadrilles.
The factory, like most clothing factories, employs a majority of women. But unlike most clothing factories, Schoolhouse provides a living wage.
From their efforts, the women of Chapel Hill gain garments that are well made, fit for a woman’s body and cute to sport everywhere, from dorms to football games.
And both sides of production benefit from understanding more about our economic global connection, getting to benefit and support a group on the other side of the world.
