Amsterdam-based MADE-BY recently launched a new program called Track&Trace that gives shoppers the opportunity to learn about the rich backstory of some of the products they buy. MADE-BY has partnered with several Netherlands-based fashion brands to insert an added tag to their products that comes with a code which ‘unlocks’ the history of the item. Shoppers enter the code on the MADE-BY site and are given a glimpse of the product’s long journey to the shop window – where the garment was manufactured and by whom, who spun the yarn, who grew the cotton. Each step in the process includes a picture of the worker(s) and a brief interview about that stage of production and the labor that went into it.

The purchase-then-learn model might not directly help those looking to make their shopping choices based on sustainability, but MADE-BY’s initiative promotes more informed consumption and serves as a nice reminder of the many steps it takes to create the things we buy.

[via WorldChanging]