It was the deadliest factory fire in the history of Bangladesh.
According to the New York Times, Walmart played a significant role in blocking reforms to have retailers pay more for apparel in order to help Bangladesh factories improve safety standards.
Walmart director of ethical sourcing, Sridevi Kalavakolanu, asserted that the company would not agree to pay the higher cost, as such improvements in electrical and fire safety in the 4,500 factories would be a "very extensive and costly modification" and that "it is not financially feasible for the brands to make such investments."
As well, Walmart was the client for five of Tazreen apparel factory's 14 production lines.
In response Walmart donated over a million dollars to the North South University,
Environment, Health and Safety Academy (EHS+) to improve fire safety in RMG factories in Bangladesh by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), a U.S.-based nonprofit.
Fiber artists face the same dilemma of all artists; determining "what is art?"
More so with fiber arts and other media associated with handicraft, because they have long been associated with domestic or utilitarian production.
Typically, pieces like pot-holders, which just follow patterns without doing anything more, are not considered works of fiber art.
Fiber art works are works of art that communicate some sort of message, emotion or meaning and go beyond just the literal meaning of the
embroidery digitizing materials.
Fiber arts face the challenge at times of the message or meaning of the work of art being eclipsed by the study of the materials used and their history, rather than what they contribute to the overall work of art.
Textile designing is a creative field that includes fashion
digitizing design, carpet manufacturing and any other cloth-related field.
Textile design fulfills a variety of purposes in our lives.
For example, our clothing, carpets, drapes, towels, and rugs are all a result of textile design.