I Visited a Chinese Fast Fashion Factory — What I Saw Shocked Me

I Visited a Chinese Fast Fashion Factory — What I Saw Shocked Me

all over age they’re all over 18 no 
children or anything like that so are the tariffs affecting you but look they must have like newer 
machines than older ones so they’re obviously   bringing up the technology game fast fashion 
is everywhere cheap trendy and just a click   away most of us wear it once and forget about it 
have you ever stopped to ask who’s making it and   how is it so cheap today we’re going inside 
a real fast fashion factory in China the kind   that supplies some of the biggest global brands in 
your wardrobe we’ve all seen the news reports in   the Western media but what’s the truth behind the 
headlines let’s go and find out we are currently   in Donguan still in the province of Guangdong but 
we’ve headed about 45 minutes out of the city   on the train to come and look at a Chinese factory 
not just any factory not a car one not like parts   and that no a clothing one the world has been 
speaking about China making luxury clothes for   such a cheap price and it’s all over the news at 
the moment so we are going inside a factory to   show you what it’s really like we’re just in the 
taxi to the factory so here in the Guangdong region   there’s over 70,000 factories and some of the 
big high rollers like Coca-Cola Samsung Nokia   but also a lot of fast fashion factories so these 
factories are all really say smaller factories   but they deal with big brands you know the big 
fast factories like uh H&M ASOS all them sort   of brands and this this particular factory we’re 
going to stay it deals with at least one of them   brands maybe more um I don’t know what I can tell 
you yet i’m going to wait to see cuz when we meet   Jerry the owner he he’ll maybe be able to tell 
you a little bit more about it but we’ll wait   and see this part of China is made up of tiny 
little factories each factory supplies for some   of the bigger companies so like I said earlier 
them fast fashion companies they’re all little   factories like this and they supply these big 
companies so it’s going to be a real insight to   look how the staff are treated how the how they’re 
where they’re sleeping what the schedule is is it   um what’s called ethical is it ethical practices 
are they getting overworked is it a sweat shop   we’re just about to find out i’m I’m really 
excited i’m a little bit nervous i don’t want   it to be bad honestly I I love China i don’t 
want it to be bad yeah yeah nice car nice car what’s this translation oh okay okay oh 
you No no English yes oh okay that’s cool   yeah so I got a translation device uh 
Jerry doesn’t speak English so we’ll uh um help me out there in That’s 
why that works okay okay sorry okay he said “Okay okay sorry sorry yeah yeah yeah fourth fourth fifth yes yes yeah so   he said we got we go we’ll go up to 
the fourth and the fifth floor yes yes so we’ll first go up to the fifth floor 
to the expedition hall this is so cool yeah   this is really clever hello my name is Sandra 
and the colleague of Jerry oh hello i’ll be   responsible for the translation of this time 
perfect oh fantastic how are you today yeah   good good good thank you and what’s your 
name i’m Reanne Reanne yes do I need   this yes nice to meet you nice to meet you i 
don’t need this do I yeah keep it in just in   case he wants to talk to you yeah yeah uh 
just choose you one i can translate if you   Yeah that’s better because it’s a bit it’s 
a little bit um confusing when I’m Ben ben   ben yeah yeah did you Did you see our um our 
YouTube channel uh no i just know this matter   in today yeah yeah yeah it was literally last 
minute oh wow some kind of our uh shing room   of some samples we made before oh wow yeah 
so what clients do do you work with like   obviously we’re from the UK do you work for 
any companies in the UK uh yeah as OPI and Oh she know she knows more than me she 
knows her fashion what and there’s   some Australian brands and uh like our cast and princip yeah and you do House of CB don’t 
you uh previously long time yeah because   they have their own factories what about um 
what about Sheen and H&M and I don’t think I don’t know if that’s how you pronounce it 
sheen’s quality is not so good so we don’t work   with them ah that’s good to hear yeah that’s 
good to hear yeah yeah the cheap quality yeah   yeah yeah gested to purchase with the lower 
quality and Yeah so is this considered fast   fashion mhm so fast fashion yeah and there will 
be some This is so cool oh wow oh wow your words and here is our sample design team for the pattern   oh wow yeah factory and we have few factories 
be behind around here around 500 m so and we   have two sample rooms two factories to make the 
production and the samples for the development   so these are samples so this is where you like 
test the products and uh say from the uh first   design to the final design final yeah yeah yeah 
so this is creating the product the first product   of course should we go should we have a closer 
look we going yeah I’ll go first we don’t want   to get in people’s way oh wow so this is where 
the products are like first designed and made so making sewing a dress oh wow this is well cool 
and then they cut the patterns down there and   then sew it together so the staff what’s the um 
do they work what’s their working schedule how   how long do they work for uh from the uh 9 900 
a.m to the So I would have to take a nap in the   uh 11 to the Oh really yeah from the 11 to the 
1.13 yeah 1:30 yeah yeah 113 and start and uh   working with the 6:00 p.m and to have the dinner 
and work in the 7 oh okay yeah yeah yeah so when   do they finish 7 7 8 Do they do they sleep on on 
site no no no they have their own home their own   uh factory so there’s no dormatories uh you 
Yeah before we have it but they don’t want to   uh sleep in the dormatory and we have will have 
the uh send the uh the money and will be give to   them to rent the house to rent the house yeah 
yeah so they have they have their own private   Yeah house off offsite away from site so they 
sleep there okay yeah yeah wow okay so are most   most of the staff are they from this area or 
are they from like the rural areas different   parts of China oh different parts yeah most of 
is the in the south of the China uh some of them   is from Bondo okay like me I’m not from Bondo 
i’m from the Hunan so it’s different oh you’re   from Hunan okay we’ve been Hunan really we’ve 
been Yeah uh we’ve been to Changsha changsha yeah   changa that’s my hometown you’re from We’ve been 
to Changsha we love Changsha we love Changsha it’s a spicy   city spicy city try everything you like if you 
eat we try lots of things yes yeah welcome to   Cha it’s good city good good walking street you 
can see look some of the drawing designs there misguided misguided yeah quiz boaty one of these 
oh wow assos she knows sorry I’m just reading   your brand oh wow this is the small showing 
room that one will be bigger so we just show   So these samples like the first the zone of 
it yeah yeah wow so with the with the staff   so all the staff it’s all ethical so they’re 
all over like all over age they’re all over 18   no no no children or anything like that before I 
think Jerry has made a children’s for the Hello   Kitty but right now I we don’t Oh no no i mean I 
mean I mean staff oh no definitely no it’s only   because if I don’t ask these questions um everyone 
in the comments they will scold me because I   didn’t ask okay that that that’s you know the 
western media is proven them that’s what we’re   doing is proving Western media every every stuff 
in factory will have the healthy certification   okay yeah we have we will buy the insurance yeah 
yeah so everyone has health insurance yeah yeah   i’ve seen some I’ve seen some the gym brands 
we are um pro pro- China so we support China by know so if I don’t questions for both sides 
that’s a good brand i’m just in the middle   the truth yeah yeah yeah yeah that would 
be okay i’m just looking at the clothes sports gear this is um what people are into we 
do a lot of gyms gym yeah it’s really in at the   moment isn’t it like gym wear shorts what makes 
that is that Nova nova this is from the I think   it’s not the foreign country brand it’s our Ah 
okay then so you do Chinese brands as well wow   mostly is for foreign country most of it yeah 
yeah so this reminds me of Gym Shark yeah a   little bit it looks it i don’t think it is it 
but it’s kind of similar so which countries   do you um supply for which which countries are 
all Europe uh my customer is mostly for UK my   is mostly for us USA and the US okay so are 
the tariffs affecting you oh no no you don’t   care it affects America more doesn’t it um I 
think I’m just care about I don’t care about   the country i just care about my customer yes 
of course oh yeah yeah yeah it’s up to them if   they want to pay ever you from the which 
country but we just serve you and we just   serve the sample and serve for the production 
and provide the best services for you and you   choose the factory as you choose of course yeah 
all these all the all the brands on the sign   they’re all very very popular in the UK but 
some kind but some we didn’t work right now   uh because I think it’s because the prices and 
the need time yeah and they have found some other   factories I think okay do you supply a lot for 
ASOS because that’s a lot of different uh ASOS   as actually as we didn’t directly to supply to 
ASOS so we just to work with the brand brand that   works with ASOS yeah cuz there’s a lot of brands 
that work with ASOS so as like the big chain and this is the Jerry’s office jerry’s office you   can tell that’s Jerry C yeah yeah 
yeah all these trophies in that wow so and we’ll go to our production line uh 
four so here is our old factory you don’t   take the brand so okay yeah to keep the brands 
private we just come on ah so she’s sewing it   the the tiding so it’s everything done by hand 
everything made by hand no robots yeah yeah yeah   yeah but some some no robots every step is by 
the hand and some of the logo maybe will be   needed by machine to press on it like something 
will help like a design or something we’ve been   in two uh factories which car factories mhm 100% 
robots we have already two bags have by the robot   they have the new one new bag okay yeah yeah so 
this is purchase that machine is because we just   want to this is just like a sleeve she’s doing 
sometimes the order is come get more more more   more yeah so she’s just doing the sleeves yes so 
each person does like a different part of it yeah   each garment will have the each process of the 
by the person different person okay and uh one   one pound one part of your garments so how many 
how many garments per day oh good question lots uh one day we can make around the 2,000 uh units 
of the 2,000 2,000 2,000 around 2,000 a day wow   it’s a lot right all right so we’re just told 
that twice a year the brands that buy the products   obviously everything’s quality controlled and they 
make sure that they have they basically do what   we’re doing they they twice a year they do factory 
tours so um yeah it’s all like proper precise   and quality control it’s very good actually so 
like the item in front of me that’s being made   we can’t film it cuz it’s a brand new product 
coming out but they’re checking it over every   single item that goes out so you people that get 
a parcel and go “Oh it’s faulty.” You’re making it   up we’re getting in a Porsche am I getting in the 
front you can get in the front okay do you want to   get in the front no no no no i’ve never been in a 
Porsche actually I’ve never been in the Porsche no   so we’ve just been like driven in a Porsche to 
the other factory so this is the newer factory   it’s only been open for about a year um so we’re 
going to have a look around lunch eat lunch uh we   didn’t eat lunch did we no should we go do lunch 
after we finish yeah if you want yeah yeah yeah oh wow ah yeah it’s loads different lot bigger wow 
ah so they got the machines there what’s that for   what does that do is that cut yeah cutting that 
ah so you don’t have to hand cut it anymore the   machine will cut it one hand one uh machine it’s 
this is obviously a lot different to what um like   the western media and stuff tell us so what why 
do you think that why do you think other countries   have this opinion of Chinese factories uh give me 
uh how I feel about Chinese factories yeah but why   do you think other countries feel like they lots 
of rumors go around why where do you think that   comes from it’s a bit of a hard question that 
then I don’t Yeah i think I’m curious it’s cuz   people because they manufacture so much people 
like to make up rumors so people don’t use them   kind of thing isn’t it cuz China does everything 
better yeah but I don’t understand like I don’t   understand where it comes from no we don’t no 
aren’t we cuz when I when I look around it look   everything looks good everything looks fine but 
I don’t understand where it comes from where all   the rumors rumors rumors what is the rumor what 
are you on about like like they’ve been saying   that the conditions are bad and the the quality 
is not good yeah but where does that come from   because everything looks good to me it looks good 
um I think it’s probably sometimes in China we   have this as well what I for my personal what I 
purchased online for garments I feel I feel this   size is not good the quality is not good maybe 
have the broken stitch for the personality maybe   some different person will be comments like oh I 
don’t like this your your t-shirt or your or your   garments because the price is so high but I didn’t 
get get the correct uh t-shirt yet but sometime   but I don’t I don’t think this is the problem 
because everybody have everybody hobbit for any   dresses and uh jeans and something you know yeah 
like if you don’t like this you can do return and   you can tell us what happens exactly yeah not to 
directly to comment on a brand or on a factory   yeah because they will be to affect a brand or 
a factory i think a a good brand will to uh help   their customer yeah and keep keep improving yeah 
yeah keep improving keep learning that’s good go   down yeah oh wow so you got the machines yeah 
the machine so they’re cutting the design yeah   yeah oh wow so what would you do just input on the 
computer and then the design will be cut up oh wow   so it’s like a laser mhm yeah so is this new is 
this quite new this one is new yeah a lot of money   i don’t know a lot of money oh wow i Yeah and then 
over here they got um hand cutting still going on   that’s obviously for precise and then again we’ve 
got people this is quality control checking it so this this one obviously this is hand cut uh 
you mean this one this one yeah yeah yeah yeah   so this is for precise precision yeah yeah yeah 
yeah that a machine can’t do machine can’t do it’s   a bit like um when we were in the factory when 
we’re in the car factory all the precise stuff   has still got to be done by hand so it’s still old 
school but that’s that’s we’re not quite there yet   that part will be our uh quality checking for 
the fabric oh check the fabric quality yeah   yeah once the fabric back we need to check where 
have the stand and something to be dirty on the   fabric so these are boxes to be shipped and 
done yeah and then this is all the fabric wow so these all the fabrics getting like checked 
quality checked to make sure they’re good   enough to sh send off to the designs so you 
can see not see-through thick it’s what you   want to see nice fabric you don’t want to 
be seeing your pants through it it’s what   it is it’s like gym material stretchy quality 
material stretchy yeah you don’t want to see   through it yeah like like what you wear yeah 
just circle shorts so what’s he doing there   for testing the fabric oh to test to checking 
the fabric quality oh wow so what’s it check   what’s he actually checking because if if 
they don’t checking the once the cutting   bad to cutting finish the cutting and nobody 
will checking the fabric once the garment to   be the QC department they were checking your 
garment will have the something can can to   be rework so the garment will be filled 
oh my gosh every step is very important so he’s going to press that and go through 
oh so you’ll check that whole all of it every   every row of fabric backward checking that’s 
amazing that is what I call quality control   just making sure that there’s no splits 
in it any fault yeah yeah that’s really   good i wouldn’t have ever known that ever 
happened cuz everything’s important to the   brand like obviously the when you sell it to 
the brand everything’s important it’s got to   be perfect because it’s a repeat repeat 
customer yeah yeah yeah and you get more   orders from more orders more orders wow never 
knew this new it is fascinating it really is oh wow so that is this is a top just in case you 
didn’t know yeah so she’s now checking the   quality putting the label on it sealing it in 
the bag she’s looking at us wonder what we’re   doing so I know where my clothes come from 
now if I order of certain brands m do you   do a lot with Misguided cuz they’re not now all 
online aren’t they Misguided they used to have   We used to have a shop in our high street but 
it’s gone so it used to be quite popular cool   to see so how many floors have you got how 
many floors two floors two floors that’s it   and you do 2 thou what was it 2,000s a day 
so how many people work work here in total that’s around uh 200 uh staff 200 200 and to 
make the speech we have the around 200 as well   okay so 400 yeah yeah yeah around 400 around 400 
400 wow one little bit and then she’s doing the   other bit it’s quite fascinating yeah so it’s 
all like different sections different stations   everyone looks quite chilled and calm they 
got the earpods in just getting on with the   jobs it’s quite cool but look they must have 
like newer machines than older ones so they’re   obviously bringing up the technology game yeah 
as it develops different ones everyone looks   quite Do you work in the factory do you ever do 
very relaxing you don’t do that looks like a nice   place to work you just grandma don’t know this 
oh really oh I’d love to be able to make clothes i wouldn’t even know how to work soon so 
then they’ll work till 7:00 and they’ll   be done for the day and they get 
to go home to their accommodation yeah making the samples sample team sample team   yes they’re making the samples 
okay thank you hello hello hello we just come to No evil channel that’s us 
that’s us yeah youtube youtubers yeah got a   bit of an introduction there i heard CCTV that’s 
us otwd should walk in and go “Hi we’re OTWD.” The designing pieces who designs it then who 
designs the pieces who designs the pieces the   company designs it and then you make it or or 
in-house you design the pieces h in house in   house so you design it and then send it off 
to the brand yeah yeah yeah oh wow yeah yeah   so you design it make it ship it uh we can 
design but most of our customers they have   their design to send to us okay then then you’ll 
create it and make it we create the pattern and   making the sample and send to brand and they 
approve oh wow do they have like a certain   amount of times you can like Yeah like try and 
make it so they can be like nope I don’t like   that yeah yeah yeah how many times can they do 
that though as many times they want sometimes   if quickly it’s two terms oh really sometimes 
it’s no be five three six so sometimes maybe if   really nowhere we may need to approve the one 
new design maybe one half month wow cool so a   lot of work just goes into one design wow cuz 
some design will be more complex like printing   something so he’s designing it and putting the 
pieces together there is the brains wow oh yeah good job this Jesse hi Jessie you’re 
um you’re responsible for this whole   thing don’t worry no one ever hello i’m 
Brienne nice to meet you Jesse thank you   for sorting this out for us thank you 
for this oh wow look at this for an   office is this Jerry’s office number two 
is this your office you got two offices oh yeah j has two fac two factory and 
the two ah she has one in each one so   in the morning she he were to here to 
that way he go there yeah yeah thank you all right so we’re just being taken out for 
lunch/ dinner cuz it’s like 3:00 now that’s nice thank you thank you so much 
thank you very much thank you   Jerry thank you thank you hopefully see you again yeah I’ll have you yeah see you our 
boss have paid a fe okay thank you   very much thank you have a nice day thank you bye bye bye they were so nice we’ve just had the most 
delicious meal honestly the pork oh god so nice   and in true traditional Chinese fashion they’re 
like so honestly the most hospitable people I’ve   ever met and all the countries I’ve ever been 
to they’re just lovely there everyone’s been   so absolutely so nice today but obviously we’re 
away we’re in a taxi we’re now we’ve now got a   2-hour journey 2 hours all the trains were fully 
booked obviously this weekend is Golden Weekend   and well Golden Week and if you know anything 
about China you cannot get a train during Golden   Week it is absolutely chaos everywhere i can 
I’m I’m away from everyone i’ve got obviously   got my own mind my own opinions i can tell you 
what I thought generally I was rather impressed   everyone looked very happy very content i didn’t 
see anything obviously you saw I hope everyone   in the comments is going to verify this but I 
try to ask the questions that you ask and yeah   they’re good responses for everyone’s insured 
these people come from very poor backgrounds   they are from the rural rural side of China 
so this is for them their escape from their   village life is to work in these factories and 
they’re probably not paid that well obviously   I didn’t get into that i didn’t ask that they’re 
probably not paid you never get a real art no you   never get Yeah you never will get a real answer 
for that but aside from that right they told us   that they pay for their accommodation offsite so 
they you know they get an apartment paid for they   work on site they get set hours it’s not that you 
know they’re not run down like a machine and they   don’t you know you you when you’re finished that’s 
when you’ll get off work they get set hours they   get lunch breaks and they can go off site for 
lunch breaks they can stay on site they’re not   locked up they’re not chained up there’s no kids 
doing it so from a woman’s perspective obviously   majority of the people in there were women and 
it was women clothes it’s very high quality in   there like watching them check every single roll 
of material blows my mind so when people go to   like good brands like Misguided Op is probably 
quite pricey it shows you why you’re paying that   price because they are putting extra measures 
in to make it so it was quite cool to see and   then it’s going to another staff at the end to 
check it through trim it make sure it’s packaged   right and all that it was really cool to see as 
Ben said they didn’t look stressed they didn’t   look unhappy all the staff they looked quite 
chill as he said they had earphones in and   they’re just getting on for the job it’s a job 
isn’t it at the end of the day as he said they   start at 9:00 they have a few hours break for nap 
or lunch whatever they want to do and then come   back and work till 7:00 well I don’t know you 
saw it we showed you the factory you can make   your own opinions but from us and meeting Jerry 
and the staff they seem quite down to earth like   he was just like so chilled i just can’t imagine 
it being a stressful environment and as they say   they got a new factory now so expanding and 
bigger it was just quite cool and unique to   see it was hot in there that’s the only thing 
I can say but there is fans on the wall but if   you’re in the office they got AC so the higher up 
paid people gets a little bit better i just want   to add to that like you’re obviously thinking 
oh these guys they’re obviously paid how How   do normal YouTubers normal OTWD get a factory 
visit basically contacted I found a number on   online just a WhatsApp number i was contacted 
them they put me in touch with the boss and   the boss invited me down to tour the factory 
no nothing else i wasn’t It wasn’t any media   invited me right i showed them the channel so 
obviously they wanted to to see who it was and   then they invited me down it wasn’t Yeah not an 
invite just literally spare the moment thing it   was only yesterday I got the the all clear to 
come down here spare the moment thing look at   the factory nothing was prep like prepared there 
wasn’t wasn’t actors there wasn’t actresses look   there’s no other country that we found that we’ve 
been invited to a factory if you’re a big retailer   and you’re looking for someone else to make your 
clothes contact me cuz I have got the number   uh people that work there so um I can put you in 
touch with them uh 73 B7 yeah but aside from that   we’ve got loads coming up we’ve actually we’re 
back at the Canton Fair as well so subscribe

Join us for an eye-opening journey as we take you behind the scenes of one of the most influential fast fashion factories in China! In this exclusive video, we uncover the secrets behind the production of some of the most popular fashion brands in your wardrobe.

in this video you’ll see

– A rare tour of the factory floor, showcasing the intricate processes that turn design sketches into trendy clothing.
– Insights from factory workers and management about the fast fashion industry and its impact on global trends.
– A deep dive into the ethical considerations and challenges faced by workers in the fast fashion supply chain.
– Stunning visuals of the latest styles being produced for top brands, and a look at the technology that drives this massive industry.

Whether you’re a fashion enthusiast, an industry insider, or just curious about where your clothes come from, this video is a must-watch!

If you love to see new places from all over the world and everything in between make sure you smash subscribe and like this video is really helps us out!

anyone looking to work with this factory contact me at otwdridgers@gmail.com

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May 2025 | Vlog 492 | Guangzhou, China

12/34 Province

When we finally started our adventure
17/07/2021.

Buy us a beer and I will toast to you on the next video. Cheers 🍻

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Hello and welcome to our channel,

We are Reanne and Ben living in Portsmouth, England. We have been together from the age of 15.
We brought our first house together at 23, got married at 25 and Reanne started her own business at 27.
We have been wanting to travel the world so
The day has finally come we have sold our business and and our house to explore as much of the world Full Time.

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