So if you’re wearing a Nike tracksuit, that must mean that you are somebody who fully supports child labour… right?

People all over Ireland, and indeed the world, buy Nike products as a style statement, without giving any thought to what activities they may be advertising by sporting the famous tick symbol. I’m sure that your regular teenage football fan doesn’t think sending six-year-olds to work for pennies in terrible conditions is very moral, but when he picks up a new pair of runners to wear in P.E., he is contributing to Nike’s corrupt regime and indirectly supporting child labour.

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence- style-savvy teens just wanting the latest clothes, but in the process supporting and advertising things they don’t believe in. And it’s not just the sports heavyweights that trick people into keeping their cruel practices going. Back in 2008, cheap-as-chips high street favourite Penneys was exposed to have been getting some of their clothing from factories that used children to sew the items.

These children were being paid just 76c an hour for working in cramped, overheated factories, doing intricate sewing that only children’s hands are small enough to do. Once these practices were exposed by BBC’s Panorama, Penneys issued a statement saying that they did not know this was going on in the three Indian factories they had sub-contracted, and had since terminated business with them.

Even though we don’t like to think of it, we all know that giants like Nike and Adidas use child labour in manufacturing their products. But Penneys? Most popular with cash-strapped teenagers and students, the majority of the Irish population seems to have been wearing stuff made by children in India unknowingly for years.

The fact is that the more consumers purchase clothing manufactured using child labour, the more the crime is going to continue- and will always be fuelled by oblivious shoppers.

But it’s not only criminal practices that we support by wearing certain labels. What connotations do we put out there by wearing types of clothing?

For every designer it seems, we have a stereotype in our head. Spare a thought for poor Burberry. This luxury fashion house dresses some of the richest and most famous celebrities, featuring stars like Kate Moss and Emma Watson in their campaigns. But what do people think of when they think of the famous check pattern? Yes, we think of chavs- decked out head to toe in knock-off Burberry caps, tracksuits, handbags and babies buggies.

Other high-end designers who have fallen victim to the chav culture include Fred Perry and Tommy Hilfiger, whose polo shirts and hats are often associated with the thug culture. And God forbid if you ever want to wear a hoodie. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold and raining- if the hood is up, you’re a criminal who is thinking about knifing that woman passing you in the street.

So next time you go out shopping, you might want to think things through more carefully- you never know what message you’re putting out about yourself, or what hands made those clothes.