When my son asked for his first adult suit, I wanted him to have one from a UK maker. It should be made using fairly-sourced British wool, and be sourced from a company that does not rely on paying low wages to its staff to keep margins down and profits up.

In London, where there is an enormous choice of brand and price, I failed to find anything that meets these simple conditions at a price I can afford. Many of the suits my son and I considered were made abroad, mostly in Asia, Africa or poorer parts of Europe.

This is a problem because I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the real-life conditions in garment factories such as those in Asia. Millions of men, women and children worldwide slave away in sweat shop conditions to make all kinds of clothing; their lives are ones of grinding poverty and exploitation.

For some, producing clothes for big name brands can prove fatal. The number of people killed in garment factories worldwide is cause for global shame and concern. This week’s fire at a Bangladesh garment factory added another nine deaths to the more than 1,000 in the Rana Plaza collapse only months earlier. I fear they will not be the last to die.

So what do you do if you want a new suit? Even if you have the money to visit Savile Row in London’s West End, at least two of the most prestigious houses there get their suits made in Mauritius by a Chinese-owned company. The clothes are brought back to the UK for the buttons to be sewn on and be ironed, and then they are sold at a premium price. I suspect little of the substantial profit made on such clothing gets into the pockets of the people who actually made the clothes.

So then, it seems our only choice is getting a suit entirely made in the UK. However, if you go bespoke, prices start from about £3000! And, guess what? One of the top houses which will make you a bespoke suit is owned by that Chinese company that also owns the factory in Mauritius.

How, then, can I find a suit for my son that will not clothe him with shame?

Interested in learning more about the campaign to improve conditions and empowering workers in the global garment industry? Visit the Labour Behind the Label site at http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org and learn about the Anglican Alliance’s campaign at  http://www.anglicanalliance.org/pages/8376