All’s Fair (Trade) in Love & Eco Fashion
Think October’s just for pink ribbons? Think again. The month is also set aside to celebrate Fair Trade, that difficult-to-define yet increasingly important sustainable business practice which, as we reported previously, identifies manufacturers who forge economic partnerships that can alleviate poverty, reduce inequality, and create opportunities for farmers and artisans. In the world of style, these typically third-world fair trade endeavors counter our first-world dependence on so-called “fast fashion,” which has outsourced our $3 trillion a year apparel industry to countries like China, which exports ridiculous amounts of pollution—along with “disposable” clothing like $2 t-shirts—to the United States.
“Scientists estimate that thirty percent of California’s particulate air pollution comes from across the Pacific,” said Linda Greer, director of the Health Program at NRDC and creator of its Clean by Design program. “[The Chinese] textile industry’s contribution to this soot is more than three billion tons per year [causing] cities across America to be in violation of air quality standards.” In addition, “more than half the mercury contaminating the fish that we catch off our shores and in our freshwater lakes comes from China,” she said. When it comes to the environmental impact of our biggest trade partner, “America is, unfortunately, downwind.”
Greer’s Clean by Design, which we first heard about from Angela Lindvall and which now has Walmart, H&M, Gap, Levi and Nike on its roster, has set its sights on cleaning up the Chinese textile and apparel industry by establishing business practices which reduce water pollution and energy use to help plants run more efficiently.
But fair trade businesses look at manufacturing from a different perspective, primarily that of local, community-based empowerment, which typically benefits the women who produce 76% of these goods. The stakes are incomprehensibly high: Many fair trade businesses combat human trafficking by creating opportunities for parents so that they don’t resort to selling their children’s labor or their children into slavery. And these opportunities do more than simply affect the community at hand: “Focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism,” wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nicholas D. Kristof.
Peace and well-being through fashion? Now that’s a movement we can get behind.
For many sustainable designers, establishing fair trade wages and practices is just common sense. But it can be difficult to find out about their policies without reading the fine print. You can look for a TransFair USA logo or the phrase “A 100% Fair Trade Company,” which indicates membership in the Fair Trade Federation. However, some companies who genuinely support fair trade principles do so without certification—do your own research to determine whether their practices are legit. We did the homework on a few of our favorites, and scored you $1,200+ in fair trade giveaways!
The mission behind CLOTH is big. Super-sized, in fact. Half of CLOTH’s profits return to displaced communities to provide employment, finance micro-loans, create community programs and change lives. The company seeks to align fashion, social change and sustainability by designing gorgeous accessories fair trade made in America by displaced women from all over the world. Like their upcycled cloth-wrapped wood bangles, or this super-soft bamboo Unity Green scarf, “lovingly made by Brigitte.” No exploitation required.
Sseko Designs is—to us—the perfect fair trade success story. And it’s also an example of a company that isn’t Fair Trade Certified, yet still manages to dramatically affect the community in which it operates. Once upon a time, Liz Forkin was volunteering in Uganda when she met a group of recent high school graduates who lacked the funds to go to college. She designed a sustainable sandal from veggie-tanned leather and scrap material that they could manufacture in order to raise funds to pursue their degrees, named the line after the Ugandan word for laughter, and began marketing it in the United States. As Liz says, “These women will not be making sandals forever. The will go on to become doctors, lawyers and teachers who will bring change to a country that has been ravished by poverty and a 22-year-long war.” P.S. Liz went on to marry her business partner and now they’re on a year-long expedition to bring Sseko House Parties to cities across the nation. So maybe it’s a love story, too.
Big Blue Bike has a dual-purpose mission: To support women in the impoverished communities of Peru, as well as rejuvenate the dwindling colored alpaca population in the Andes. By utilizing the natural colors of alpaca fibers in their line, Big Blue Bike created a market where there was none, thus encouraging mountain herders to breed these endangered animals. The Lima-based, family-run cooperatives that manufacture the sweater for BBB were even lauded by the Peruvian government for their fair trade business practices! But all eco-ingenuity aside, we just plain love this line of super-soft sweaters for men and women, and especially this slinky scoop-backed bit of gorgeousness.
REBEKAH GREEN RECYCLED GOLD, FAIR TRADE PEARL EARRINGS ($95)
Classically beautiful, Rebekah Green’s collection of earrings—studs, drops and chandeliers—are exclusively made from recycled 14-karat gold with fair trade gemstones. And they’re surprisingly affordable, with prices starting at just $35 for delicate gold cherry studs, which were designed for kids, but had our EcoStilettoistas swooning. We’re also enamored of Rebekah’s milky white fair trade pearl studs—the perfect ladylike complement to the “Mad Men” inspired styles recently spotted on the runway.
INDIGENOUS DESIGNS ORGANIC COTTON KIMONO SWEATER ($150)
Certified by TransFair USA, Indigenous Designs has dedicated more than 15 years to forging a global collaboration between artisans and consumers to support sustainable farmers and workers around the globe. The only use eco-fibers—peace silk, alpaca and merino wool from free ranging animals, and Organic Trade Association certified organic cotton. But while some designs in this arena tend towards the crunchy, Indigenous commissions the classically beautiful kind of clothes we’d like to wear every day. Case in point? This organic cotton kimono sweater. Just perfect.
EXTRA SEED UPCYCLED SATIN BALLET FLATS ($38)
If change starts with one person, then Extra Seed is the perfect example. A native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Zerihun G.mariam painstakingly crafts gorgeous, super-comfortable ballet flats from upcycled scrap fabric with recycled tire soles. We adore Extra Seed’s veggie-tanned leather, linen and hemp options, but we know we’ll be wearing these bright red satin vegan numbers every day from now until New Year’s.
We’ve seen these embroidered belts before, and while they looked great with the Ralph Lauren white-shirt-and-gathered-skirt ensemble that indicated your mom was a high-end free spirit in the early ‘80s, typically they’re too skinny and rugged to float our boats today. Not so, Annie O, who designed this thick, beautifully embroidered wool waist-cincher that looks great with pretty much everything. All of Annie’s products are fair trade made by a domestic violence women’s cooperative in the Peruvian Andes from local and sustainable materials.
Week of 3.21.11 one free EcoStiletto Newsletter Subscriber will win an $80 Annie O embroidered belt!
Upcycling and fair trade in action? We love it. Fair Wage Fair Trade Bags are a joint effort between Love This Planet and Project360, which was created in 2008 by Nick Sheinberg, Kimberly Barth and high schooler Patrick Schwarzenegger—yes, that Schwarzenegger; the line debuted at mom Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference. The recycled cotton totes are made in a fair trade compliant factory in China from textile waste, which is broken down—mechanically, not chemically—and then rewoven into thread. In keeping with Project360’s philosophy of using fashion and accessories to generate awareness and motivate action on global issues such as poverty, homelessness, AIDS prevention and cancer research, among others, a portion of proceeds from sales of this adorable tote is donated to Save The Children and the Green Ambassadors Institute.
Week of 3.6.11 two free EcoStiletto Newsletter Subscribers will each win a $44 Project 360 Eco Tote!
HOPE FOR WOMEN EL SALVADOR CARDS ($5.50)
Can a company benefiting women really be founded by a man? Absolutely. Fair Trade Federation member Hope for Women began in 1993 when founder Evan Goldsmith discovered pressed organic flower cards made by local artisans in the Indian Himalayas. Since then, the company expanded to partnerships with women in Columbia and El Salvador, where their “portraits” collection is crafted at wages five-to-eight times higher than the average wage in the region. We want to send one of these cards to every ecoista we know.
They may not be the sexiest item in our story, but everyone needs flip-flops, right? So why not make them fair trade, sustainable, recyclable and give a pair away for each and every one you buy? Unlike PVC brands, VOS sandals are made from one hundred percent recyclable natural rubber. They source their rubber at a Guatemalan plantation, where they provide health care, education, drinking water, garbage disposal systems and latrines, among other things, for 500 workers and their families. And they partnered with Soles4Souls—which has given over seven million pairs of shoes (or one every nine seconds) since 2005—to give away one pair of new sandals for every pair they sell. Think beyond summer: These sandals are perfect for the spa.
Despite the prevalence of vodka sponsors at Fashion Week, alcohol is not a fashion accessory—we get it. But we couldn’t resist the opportunity to plug the Fair Trade Spirits Company, which utilizes Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients like quinoa and goji berry to craft some pretty tasty treats. Cheers!
No alcohol giveaways on EcoStiletto: That wouldn’t be fair. Or square.
FOUR TRUFFLES BODY BUTTER ($24; 6.2 ounces)
And while we’re at it, one of our favorite eco-beauty companies, Four Truffles, has just been awarded the Ladies’ Home Journal “Do Good” stamp for their work in giving back to the community. Four Truffles fair trade sources EcoCert Certified Organic ingredients in Morocco, West Africa, Bulgaria and the U.S. Every three months they choose a new charity to donate 10% of sales; now through the end of the year, their beneficiary is Bridges of Hope South Africa, which helps train women to start their own businesses in Africa as well as fund the Bridges Academy for children. Okay, that’s it. Fair trade, we’re out.
