Every fall, University students flock to retailers around campus to buy clothes and show off their Tiger pride, but they rarely think of the people who make the products they buy.
One company is trying to change that.
Alta Gracia Apparel, a subsidiary of Knights Apparel, the leading supplier of collegiate-logo apparel in America, does what no other apparel manufacturer in the world does: pay a living wage, said Knights Apparel CEO Joseph Bozich.
The roughly $500 a month Alta Gracia pays its workers is two to three times the minimum wage in the Dominican Republic, Bozich said.
Despite paying higher wages and providing better working conditions, Alta Gracia apparel prices are comparable to premium brands like Nike. Alta Gracia T-shirts and hoodies are currently on sale in the LSU Bookstore for $18 to $20 and $35 to $40, respectively.
The difference between Alta Gracia and other factories in the Dominican Republic is huge, said Alta Gracia Worker Union President Maritza Vargas.
“All four of my children shared one room. Now we can have our own space. Where I lived before we shared a bathroom with our neighbors,” Vargas said through a translator.
A living wage is generally defined as a wage consisting of enough money for a worker to adequately provide food and shelter for their family.
In the case of Alta Gracia, the living wage was calculated by the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor rights organization that focuses on collegiate-licensed apparel, said Theresa Haas, WRC director of communications.
The WRC also conducts testing of the Alta Gracia factory and for the first time is putting a tag on the apparel showing the WRC’s approval of working conditions, Haas said.
For Alta Gracia to be successful, it must meet the same quality standards of the brands it is competing with and should convey the message of what makes the product different, said Chuanlan Liu, assistant professor of apparel merchandising.
“You definitely want your market to be aware of what you’re       doing,” Liu said.
Liu said a premium brand’s success can be hard to figure out  because people tend to buy the cheapest clothes they like with the intention to buy something new when styles change.
Initial sales of the Alta Gracia line have been normal, according to LSU Bookstore General Merchandise Manager Jennifer Madden.
The brand hopes to bring the same opportunities to more than its roughly 120 employees in Villa Altagracia, but it all depends on the students, said Donnie Hodge, president and COO of Knights Apparel.
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Contact Frederick Holl at [email protected]