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For the Fair Trade Fortnight I’ve chosen to write about fair trade textiles as it still seems to be the Cinderella of the fair trade movement.  I did a quick (if not comprehensive!) survey of my friends, they all conscientiously buy fair trade sugar, bananas and tea, but none of them buy fair trade clothes.   Fair trade tea and coffee has become ubiquitous, not a bad thing of course, we can pick it up easily at any supermarket as well as the more traditional fair trade outlets.  Now that Cadbury has made the switch to Fair Trade I imagine most of the chocolate consumed in this country is fair trade also.  Fair trade really has come a long way and it has a lot to celebrate this fortnight.  But where do you get hold of fair trade textiles and clothes?  This is not a classic Cinders tale of rags to riches, but of organic cotton to fair trade. 

Fair trade textiles and clothing are not  obvious on the high street .  You may occasionally come across organic cotton products, priced to put people off,  but that’s about it.  Inorganic cotton production is a dirty, resource-hungry business and does very little for the poorest people in the world who farm it.  But there are textile designers and manufacturers out there doing stirling work to change this around.

Among the pioneers of ethical fair trade fashion are People Tree.  They opened in the UK in 2001, although were already busy elsewhere in the world.  In 2009 they were awarded The Observer Ethical Awards for Fashion and in the same year, founder and CEO, Safia Minney was awarded a much deserved MBE.  People Tree is an active member of many Fair Trade, social justice and environmental networks. Accreditation by these bodies, like WFTO, the Fairtrade Foundation and the Soil Association gives customers the guarantee that they are doing what we say they are doing when it comes to Fair Trade and the environment.  People Tree really is worth a visit.

Abi and Thomas Petit, founders of Gossypium,  pioneered ethical textiles in the UK as far back as the late nineties.  They have a deep commitment to the Agrocel organic farming project in Kutch – Western India.  The small scale family farms here benefit from their close ties with Gossypium in a partnership that reduces the risk of market shocks for both as they work outside the commodities market and directly with each other.  The hands on approach ensures transparency at all levels of production, nobody can be accused of not knowing how the organic cotton is produced or  be unaware of the conditions for those producing it.  You can see Abi here talking about the history of cotton production and exploitation and their unique approach to marketing fair trade textiles.

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One of the things I like most about Gossypium is that while they do undoubtedly make beautiful clothes that are made to last, what really marks them out amongst other fair trade textile producers is their willingness to encourage people to make their own clothes.  We have lost many of our traditional skills that would make us more self-reliant and less dependent on mindless consummerism.   I  love their tea towel kits aimed at getting kids sewing as well as kit dresses for adults to make.  Oh, and if you lose any buttons they’ll happily and swiftly send you spares, unusually in the world of fashion they want their products to last.

Of course, I have made a resolution not to buy any new clothes this year with the exception of underwear.  If your underwear drawer is beginning to take on that grey over-washed look don’t forget to check out the lovely, organic and ethical underwear available here from People Tree.

Now I don’t know if making my own new clothes counts, what do you think?