How ethics got into fashion
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How ethics got into fashion |
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When you drank your first cup of Fairtrade coffee you probably did not think that one day the clothes on your back would be under the same scrutiny as the warm beverage you were consuming. But in the 13 years since the first Fairtrade-labelled coffee was launched, the movement has moved on from food based items to a variety of other consumables and now the focus has switched to an area that very few can claim does not affect them – fashion. Fair trade fashion uses the same ethical framework as Fair trade coffee - paying better prices, ensuring decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. Parallels can also be drawn between the coffee growers circumstances when the Fairtrade organization began to help their cause and the situation cotton growers find themselves in today. At the beginning of 2002 cotton prices fell to the lowest they had been for 30 years and as cotton is also a crucial cash crop for many farmers, often providing the only source of income, it was estimated that this depression in the market could lead to around a 20% decrease in farmers income. So in 2005 the Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) placed cotton onto the list of items that could carry the Fairtrade banner - sourcing cotton from smallholder cooperatives in India, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon, and Peru, with all the traders in the supply chain being registered with the Fairtrade system and working to the body’s trading standards. This action by the Fairtrade organization is an important beginning in the fight to make the fashion trade fairer to the producers of the raw materials, however it is only half the battle. The other half is getting Fairtrade fashion onto the public agenda and by this we mean he public purchasing Fairtrade clothing, or at least being aware of the implications of buying non-Fairtrade. From basic beginnings, with few individuals or collectives selling via markets, magazines or small independent shops, Fairtrade can now, freely, be found even in the most unassuming of provinces. Behemoths of the high street Marks and Spencer and Top Shop have both recently launched Fairtrade lines, with the former even announcing a Fairtradesque ‘corporate social responsibility’ agenda. And as with many countercultural organizations the internet is alive with information about such fashion and, more importantly, provides a portal for the purchase of many different items of varying style and price range. From the excellent www.wearorganic.com, which focuses on the promotion of organic and fair alternatives to mainstream fashion, to the uber-hip Dutch collective www.made-by.nl, with its fashionista friendly ranges or Top Shops suppliers www.peopletree.co.uk, who provide a good range of basics. With this mixture of smaller retailers and larger companies both adhering to and supplying Fairtrade, it gives the consumer an increasingly broad choice. The inclusion Marks and Spencer and Top Shop within the organisation also means that other larger retailers will have to seriously consider the market based implications of Fairtrade and, inevitably, this will mean that the products will be more widely available. Rory Gallagher |
Action for Sustainable Living, St Wilfrid's Enterprise Centre, Royce Road, Hulme, , M15 5BJ.Email: [email protected] Tel: 0845 634 4510 Fax: 0870 167 4655. |