The fashion industry is rife with companies that profit from exploitation but deny it, or feign shock and regret when it's exposed. Ethical Sweatshop, its founders say, isn't like other brands; instead of pretending to condemn unethical practices, it leans into them.

"Our goal is simple: radical accountability," the brand's website reads. "We don't just acknowledge sweatshop labor; we elevate it."

Launched on February 4, 2025, by Oobah Butler and Tristan Cross, Ethical Sweatshop is a clothing brand built entirely on the labor of children — and it's all legal.

As Butler explains in a promotional video shared to X, a loophole has allowed them to employ a group of seven to 11-year-olds as licensed performers in a filmed piece about sweatshop labor practices, then sell the garments the kids have manufactured.

We’ve made the first fully legal child sweatshop in the UK in over a century, Ethical Sweatshop. First run of 250 shirts go on sale 3pm GMT on Feb 4th @tristandross @SamDiss pic.twitter.com/eCwruDWam7

— Oobah Butler (@Oobahs) February 2, 2025

If you've seen any of Oobah Butler's previous work, you'll know that the whole thing is, of course, satire. Much like their investigation into Amazon's working conditions, Butler and Cross's latest project aims to draw attention to the widespread exploitation of workers in the garment industry.

Ethical Sweatshop is selling a shirt made in collaboration with Holy Smokes (a cigarette brand created by their young employees), with a portion of the proceeds going towards "international solidarity campaigns that focus on building connections of mutual aid and support of workers, and tackling the major issue of sweatshop conditions in the garment industry."

Believe it or not, buying a product of child labor could be the most ethical thing you do today.

[Image credit: Oobah Butler]