The Italian fashion house Versace has de-activated its Facebook wall after activists posted dozens of messages demanding that the company ban sandblasting, a technique used to give jeans a used look which is highly dangerous to workers.

Sandblasting involves firing sand under high pressure at jeans and has been known to kill workers in garment producing countries like Turkey and Bangladesh, where jean sandblasting is done manually. The large amounts of silica dust generated during sandblasting can cause silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease, as workers inhale tiny particles of silica.

A number of major brands, such as Levi's, H&M, C&A and Gucci, have already abolished sandblasted jeans in their collections. Now hundreds of European and American activists have joined the group’s campaign on Change.org demanding that Versace ban sandblasting.

Live signatures from the Versace “Killer Jeans” Change.org campaign:
http://www.change.org/petitions/versace-stop-buying-killer-jeans

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