Part of the Series
Ladydrawers
“Red Tape,” our second strip with Melissa Mendes in “Our Fashion Year,” our yearlong look at international gender and labor issues (click here for “Fast Fashion,” “Let’s Go Shopping” and “The Business of Thrift” with Julia Gfrörer, and Mendes’ previous strip, “Zoned“), takes on the policies and people that govern the international flow of garments through the United States. Sound boring? That’s ’cause I’m leaving out the parts about bras and terrorists.
As always, our archive of previous strips can be found here. Next month’s strip will trace the apparel production line back even farther: to the offshore manufacturers where the garments are produced, and who makes them.
Thank you for reading Truthout. Before you go…
…We ask that you take just a second to read this message.
We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. Since his inauguration last year, we’ve seen frightening censorship, a right-wing takeover of the news industry, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board.
We can only resist Trump’s agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.
We need your help to sustain the fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout. If you have the means, please dig deep.