Fair Trade Fashion Round-Up: Peau-Ethique

The French company Peau-Ethique (which roughly translates as skin-ethics), is next up on our Fair Trade Fashion Round Up.  Peau-Ethique is a member of La Plate Forme du Commerce Equitable, France's national member organization to the World Fair Trade Organization.  Peau-Ethique concentrates on making intimates and nightwear that is organic, fair trade and beautiful.

Peau-Ethique works primarily in Turkey, where the majority of certified organic cotton is grown.  They have focused on lifting the lives of their manufacturing partners by:

• Paying workers 20% more than the local minimum wage,
• Partnering with a small factory that employs 90% women from poor neighborhoods,
• Pre-paying their entire order to keep the producers out of dept,
• Creating a long-term relationship to foster sustainable development,
• Paying for employee meals and shuttle service.

They also work with a small artisan village in Peru providing the locals the means to stay in their village rather than having to move to the city for work.

Peau-Ethique was started by a lone women with a mission to improve the ethics and environmental impact of the fashion industry (just like FaeriesDance.com)!  Everything they make is Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified, and early on they won accolades for innovation in organic cotton and peace silk lingerie.  We're impressed that Cathy Abruzzo both had the vision to make this eco-lingerie line a reality and took the time and money to get it fully Fair Trade certified.

Our first 3 fair trade company spotlights include a US company manufacturing in Peru, a UK company manufacturing in India and now a French company manufacturing in Turkey. It's obvious that the fashion industry touches the entire world, and our clothing can make the world better or worse, as we choose. 

Fair Trade Fashion Roundup - Pants to Poverty

As World Fair Trade Day approaches, FaeriesDance.com is highlighting amazing manufacturers and brands that focus on fair trade clothing.  Today's featured company is UK brand Pants to Poverty. In 2005, Nelson Mandela stood in Trafalgar Square and called for a generation to rise up and Make Poverty History.  (Hear his full speech here.)  That speech inspired the creation of Pants to Poverty, an underwear brand with a mission to rid the world of "bad" pants.  From their website,

"We’ve got a very English name. In England, in case you didn’t know, Pants are not trousers, but they are underwear. However, more than that, if something is pants, then that means it’s terrible! So, “Pants to Poverty” means Poverty is terrible, as well as saying that they are fairtrade and organic underpants! We all need pants and so we aim to provide pants for all people, in a way that supports, rather than destroys, all of the wonderful people that make them!"
 

With that goal in mind, Pants to Poverty started manufacturing their pants in an area of India so poor it was dubbed the Suicide Belt.  This is one of their earlier videos produced just 3 years after they started business, but it's a great summary of the work they've done and continue to do.

The pants themselves have evolved as  the company grows, gains experience and gets feedback from their customers.  The Moulin Ruche style has become very popular with women, while the men seem to like the newest Long Leg Brief best of all.  But we continue to carry the brand for their amazing dedication and commitment more than any other reason.  The fantastic products are just a bonus. If they cost a few extra bucks, well you know it's going to a great cause and it suddenly makes your underpants an interesting topic of conversation. :)


Pants to Poverty is also diligent about following their entire production line, so the farmers are taken care of just as well as the factory cutters and sewers.  The company regularly travels to India to make sure everything stays on track.  This year they even brought their models to India both to do an in-the-field photo shoot and to be sure that every person in the Pants to Poverty family understands the importance of fair trade and organic and has the opportunity to experience it first hand.  The experience really touched many of the folks who had the opportunity to go.

Watch this next video to hear a little about the trip from the folks who had the opportunity to experience it first hand.

In Pants to Poverty's own words,

"With climate chaos, the global financial meltdown and growing poverty around the world, the consequences of doing nothing are terrifying… but we prove that doing something amazing can be easy, fun and even sexy!"
 

So with that in mind, I'll leave you with a completely gratuitous video of one of their photo shoots, because we absolutely agree that fair trade is sexy.

Fair Trade Fashion Round-Up: Indigenous Designs

We're heading into World Fair Trade Day by highlighting certified fair trade clothing manufactures, and Indigenous Designs' entire philosophy embodies fair trade ideals.  From their website,

Indigenous' mission is: "to elevate artisans in the poorest regions of South America to world renowned status in the handicraft textile market while preserving the rich cultural heritage. We actively work with over a dozen fair trade field organizing teams and quality control centers that coordinate over 300 knitting and hand-looming artisan work groups."

While it may sound lofty, Indigenous puts their money where their mouth is.  They pay truly fair wages for masterful work and it's evident in their designs and their clothing.  Just take a look at the stunning detail on the Chic Pullover shown top, left.  They are a featured partner of Fair Trade USA and their entire brand - every single product - is certified fair trade.

The reason we love Indigenous is that their entire business model is focused on fair trade and respect for people and the planet.  While many companies embrace fair trade ideals after they've been in business for a while and seen some of the negative effects of the fashion industry (or even as a marketing scheme - but hey, it's still good), Indigenous' founders Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds started the brand explicitly with the well being of people and the planet at the forefront.

Here's a great video from two of their partners and social engineers in Peru.



Indigenous products are a little more expensive than some of the other brands we carry, but we think they're well worth it. They spend a much higher percent of their production cost on raw materials and labor, meaning you end up with an eco-friendly product made by someone who was equitably paid for their work and whose quality of living is actually improved by your purchase. Many of the designs, like this customer favorite Sheer Drape Tee, are also very versatile, making it easy to buy fewer, higher quality pieces.

As a bonus, Indigenous only uses azo-free, low-impact dyes without harsh chemicals and have no elastic in any of their products.  Everything they make is also Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified. Impressive.

Fair Trade Fashion Round-Up

World Fair Trade Day is on May 11 and in its honor we're putting together the Fair Trade Fashion Round-Up.  There are a number of fair trade organizations, with an array of fair trade logos, and it can sometimes be confusing to know what to look for.  (Heck, we're not even sure if it's "fair trade" or "fairtrade".)  According to the Fair Trade Resource Network, "Fair Trade is not regulated by a single authority, and anyone can claim their organization or products are Fair Trade. So, Fair Trade advocates usually look for an independent, third-party recognition in the form of product certifications, or organization/brand approvals." So to start the Round-Up we're identifying the prominent fair trade organizations and how they fit together.

 

World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) -  The WFTO is probably the biggest player in the Fair Trade arena.  They are an international membership based agency.  Membership is limited to organizations that demonstrate a 100% Fair Trade commitment and apply its 10 Principles of Fair Trade. The logo, or FTO Mark, identifies organizations that practice Fair Trade.

 

 

Fair Trade Federation (FTF) - The FTF is a member organization of the WFTO.  They screen producers based in Canada and the USA. This screening process is also considered a membership, rather than a certification.  Whenever you see the FTF logo on a product tag or package, you will also see the member organization’s name. This is because FTF membership represents an entire organization, not just an individual product.  It's important to note that almost every nation has it's own member organization of the overall WFTO.  For example, our French lingerie designer, Peau-Ethique, is a member of La Plate-Forme pour le Commerce Equitable, which is France's WFTO member.  All of the individual national member organizations are still bound by the WFTO requirements and the 10 Principles of Fair Trade.

Fairtrade International (FLO) - Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, FLO sets international fair trade standards to certify that specific products and brands are fair trade.  TransFair, Fairtrade Foundation, Max Havelaar, etc. are all national initiatives of FLO and fall under the Fairtrade International family. The Fairtrade International logo to the left is the most common one found on fair trade clothing outside of the USA.

 

 

Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) - FTUSA is the leading third-party certifier of fair trade products and brands in the United States.  Originally, FTUSA was a member organization of Fairtrade International.  However, in 2011 they separated to form their own system.  This means both systems now have different standards and reporting requirements. This can be confusing to a consumer because European brands whose products are FLO certified, generally do not use the common Fair Trade Certified logo we see to the right, which is a USA-only certification.  Also, this logo is relatively new and the old version of the FTUSA logo shown below is still widely found on Fair Trade products in the USA.

 

 

In addition to these 4, there are a number of smaller organizations that do third-party certifications.  The Fair Trade Resource Network offers this comprehensive list. 

 

It's also important to note that the producer must pay to be certified.  So there are some smaller companies we work with that adhere to the basic principles of the WFTO and monitor the conditions of factory and farm workers through frequent visits and interviews, but who have not actually had their products certified.  This is fairly common and it can be an acceptable alternative depending on the level of confidence in the manufacturer and the frequency and thoroughness of their own monitoring.

 

Now that the logos are clear, we'd like to highlight the manufacturers that we work with who are fully focused on fair trade and are certified by and/or members of the above organizations.  Between now and World Fair Trade Day, we'll introduce our readers to these incredible manufacturers - one at a time - whose entire business model revolves around ensuring that people and planet are equally valued in their every decision.

 

Follow this blog or follow us on Facebook to get each installment.

 

Win Free Stuff - Help Us Expand

A few years ago, we committed to doing a blog give-a-way every month for a year.  It was fun for our customers and lots of great eco-fashions were given away.  Unfortunately, limiting the give-a-way to our small blog didn't really get the word out about us, and only about 1/3 of the winners left a review of the product they'd won.  Since then we've had the occasional blog give-a-way when we get in something new (which we plan to continue), but we've been trying to figure out the best way to use our small marketing budget to directly benefit our customers and also get the word out about FaeriesDance.com.

So this year, we're trying something new that we hope you'll like.  We're working with other bloggers to do give-a-ways on new websites.  The idea came to us after working with Whitney from Eco-Vegan Gal who did a fantastic review video of three of our bras.  I'm copying it here if you haven't seen it before.

The way it will work is that each month we provide an item for a blogger to review.  Once they've had time to put it through its paces, they post about it on their website and we offer up a give-a-way to their fans.  Of course, we also want all of our current customers to have a chance to win, so we'll be posting the monthly give-a-ways on our Facebook page as well.   

Best of all, most of the bloggers will offer you additional entries if you repost the give-a-way link on your Facebook page.  This is where you can not only help yourself out by increasing your chances of winning some great organic clothing, but also help us out by spreading the word about our company.

There is sooo much we want to do in the future.  How many of you would like to be able to search on your size and just see what's available that will fit you?  Or see more and bigger images of the products?  Or have a wider selection and expanded size ranges?  How many would like to see us start manufacturing our own line or reinvent some of the best-selling products from the past that got discontinued?  All of these things are on our wish list, many of them come directly from comments and feedback from our customers.  But all of them cost time and money.  So please, share our information as much as you can so we can start checking off our to-do list. :)

We'll return the favor by continuing to focus our marketing budget in ways that benefit you directly and by implementing as many of your great suggestions as possible.

This month, check out blogger MakobiScribe.com who reviewed our organic Alba No Wire Bra.  They will be offering a $50 gift certificate to FaeriesDance.com to one winner.  At the end of the month, we'll have a give-a-way on FromPDXwithLove.com, who is currently reviewing the 100% organic cotton Michelle Dress.

Remember to Like Us on Facebook to get regular updates.