Moods of Norway towards global transparency and happier people

This week, I drove through Nordfjord, one of the world’s most beautiful corners, on the Norwegian west coast. There—in the prosperous and peaceful countryside—problems in China’s and India’s factories seem far, far away. But they really aren’t. Nordfjord is home to several successful apparel companies: Ricco Vero, Skogstad, and Frislid, famous in Norway and beyond. However, the iconic Moods of Norway is the best known of all. After repeated pressure from consumers and a Norwegian NGO, Moods of Norway finally went public with a list of worldwide suppliers [1-3]. That’s a good start, but not enough! It is admirable that they want to make “happy clothes for happy people”—but do they want to make people happy?

The happy Moods of Norway store in Stryn, Norway, 6-2-2013 (c) better-operations.com

Moods of Norway is a unique success story. It all started when Stefan Dahlquist and Simen Staalnacke got a crazy late-night idea in Hawaii in 2o03. Together with Peder Børresen, they thought it was a good potential to design “Happy Clothes for Happy People” based on historical Norwegian design and golden tractors. Today they are present in more than 100 stores worldwide. A handful of stores are located in the coolest places in Japan, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, and the USA. Next time you stroll down Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills, drop by their flagship shop. This is how they present themselves:

Moods of Norway has been doing the hibbedy-dibbedy on the international fashion dance floor since 2003, and the philosophy is still the same even though the Norwegian oil price is as flexible as a Bulgarian gymnast after 14 Tequila shots. Our main goal, besides making our grandmas happy, is to make happy clothes for happy people around the world.

It is, however, not far from cheerful party-mood-talk like this, to serious survival in developing countries. Lately, we have heard about unacceptable work conditions in Asian factories. H&M has been heavily criticized for mass fainting and low wages in Cambodia [4]. The garment factory fire in Bangladesh that killed 124 people in November 2012 was one of the worst the world has seen [5]. This year, another fire in Bangladesh killed seven more workers [6]. Not to mention the suicides in the Chinese Foxconn factories in 2010 [7], and repeated suicide threats last year. In general, we in the developed world buy many products manufactured by poor people under inhuman work conditions. That is exactly why we need more supply chain transparency!

Unfortunately, many of the world’s most famous apparel chains do not tell consumers where their products are made. The unflattering list includes H&M, Zara, Kappahl, Lindex, Gina Tricot, Match, and BikBok, among many others [1]. Shame on them. They explain that they cannot tell due to competitive advantages, and that—I am afraid—is understandable… All of them produce ordinary clothes and compete primarily on price. But Moods of Norway?? Come on! You guys compete on unique designs and the feelings embedded in your logo. You sell 5$ sweaters for $150 in your stores! I can only see one reason why you don’t go permanently online with your supplier list: You fear what they might be doing, and you might be too small to actually do something with it. That, however, does not exempt you from the responsibility to secure the lives of the people who work hard to secure your wealth.

Transparency is always good. Who thinks that transparency has hurt Nike, Adidas, Timberland, Levi’s, or the Norwegian brands Helly Hansen and Stormberg? Thanks to Moods of Norway for publishing their current list of suppliers (after pressure); we can’t wait to see it online and updated. To spread the word, I have included your list of supplier factories below. I hope happy people work there…

(Ps! Thanks to the friendly gentleman who let me into the Moods of Norway store in Stryn outside the opening hours. Dressed in Moods of Norway clothes from shoes to cappies, he was surely happy:)

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