This Workwear Collection for Children Shouldn't Exist

SOS Children’s Villages expose the harsh realities of child labour in the brickmaking, mining, and tobacco industries with a thought-provoking workwear collection designed specifically for children. Behind the campaign is the advertising agency NORD DDB.

Every day, millions of children, some as young as five, are forced to perform hazardous labour in the mining, brick, and tobacco industries. With this initiative, SOS aims to raise awareness about the harsh conditions of child labour in the media and public sphere, ensuring that an issue highly relevant to millions of children's everyday lives continues to receive the attention it deserves from the public.

The clothes have been designed with the harsh conditions in mind, aiming to draw attention to and provide insight into the various situations children have to endure while working in these conditions.

"Children growing up in insecure conditions and poverty are at risk of exploitation and being forced into labour. These are children who should have a secure upbringing and attend school. Children working in brick production, mining, and tobacco farming face some of the most hazardous working conditions and risk serious consequences for their physical and mental well-being. At SOS Children's Villages, we support children with schools, family strengthening programs, children's villages, and local advocacy efforts. So that they can have a secure upbringing, education, and a brighter future", says Karin Cassinger, marketing and communications manager at SOS Children's Villages.

The Miners Pants

• Designed for long workdays in cobalt mines
• Reinforced knee pads to make crawling through tunnels easier
• Large chest pocket to store a face mask to avoid cobalt poisoning
• Adjustable shoulder straps to fit children of all sizes
• Long-range transmitter to locate the wearer in case of a mine collapse

The Brick Jacket

• Made of sturdy canvas to withstand harsh weather conditions
• Designed for long workdays at brick factories
  
• Reinforced wrist guards protect the wearer from cuts and blisters, facilitating heavy lifting
  
• Openable armpits provide ventilation to cool down the wearer when working near furnaces
  
• Special pockets sewn to store oxygen during exhaustion, along with a face mask to prevent dust and chemical inhalation.
  

The Tobacco Shirt

• Waxed cotton to resist pesticides and heavy rain
• Coloured fabric to resist excessive nicotine splashes
• Reinforced wrist section to prevent cuts from knives and machetes
• Special pockets sewn to store antidotes and serums for poisonous snakes and spiders
• Non-waxed backside for breathability
• Openable armpits provide ventilation to cool down the wearer

The initiative was launched with a showroom in central Stockholm, strategically positioned near premium kids' brand stores, where chic parents and toddlers stroll by every day.

A limited number of clothing items are also put up for sale for the amount that children earn during a whole year within their respective industries, which corresponds to approximately $865 in the mining industry, $385 in the tobacco industry, and as little as $290 in the brick industry.

Additionally, individuals can donate any amount to the cause on the website. Print ads display the various workwear options, while the website provides additional information and gives people the opportunity to learn more and donate to SOS's work.

* The purpose of these collection is not for actual usage. They have been developed by SOS Children’s Villages to work as a reminder of the hazardous labour that millions of children are forced to perform, so that the rest of the world can enjoy smartphone batteries, electric vehicles, and renewable energy storage.