The Fair Trade Fashion Revolution is Coming!

1. CHANGE CLOTHES – CHANGE LIVES

Jacket from Ganesh Himal, Nepal Kazuri beads from Kenya

Kazuri Beads, in Kenya, a member of the World Fair Trade Association, produces ceramic beads and is a model for commerce in Africa. Every employee is paid 3.5 times the national wage, and is able to feed many extended family members. Kazuri’s workers, mainly disadvantaged women in the Nairobi area, receive free medical care, health education and other benefits. “Kazuri” in Swahili means “small and beautiful”.

Life started to change for the better in 1984 for Laxmi Maharjan (center), an uneducated village weaver in Kurtipur, Nepal. The Association for Craft Producers, a member of the World Fair Trade Organization in Katmandu, began to buy her cloth at a fair price and also gave her advice on how to save. While Laxmi worked as a weaving instructor at ACP, her management abilities were recognized. ACP encouraged her to form her own work group with women from her village. The group of four women she recruited grew to 60 and included some men, and became the largest fair trade producer group associated with ACP. Laxmi, as director, has become her husband’s boss, an unprecedented situation! Laxmi’s success has enabled her two sons and daughter to benefit from college education. Her daughter Sudha returned to Kurtipur after securing her master’s degree in Social Work to continue the pioneering work that her mother began. ACP is one of the local partners of Ganesh Himal Trading, a member of the Fair Trade Federation based in Spokane, WA which helps support hundreds of Nepal-born craft producers and Tibetan refugees in Nepal.

2. DIGNITY NOT CHARITY

Blouse and skirt from Marketplace: Handwork of India

In 1997 the Pratibha Syntex company, located in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, India, launched with the desire to operate a different kind of factory – a factory that would promote workers’ rights, utilize environmentally sustainable production and provide housing and other benefits to its workers. Members of Pratibha Syntex were able to realize this commitment to its workers as well as the environment by achieving Fair Trade certification through Fair Trade USA. Pratibha has grown to become one of the world’s largest vertically-integrated suppliers of all types of knits, including organic and recycled materials.

Komil Baror, from Kanpur, Uttah Pradesh, works as a tailor at Pratibha Syntex, 500 miles away from home. “I’m very happy to work here because there is no inequality amongst workers – the work atmosphere is very positive.” Komil is very active in the Fair Trade community and proposed improvements for migrant workers like herself, including establishing a community kitchen space, repairs for personal storage lockers and establishing a designated room for visiting parents of workers, some of whom have traveled great distances to see family members.

3. CHILDREN SHOULD PLAY IN THEIR SHIRTS, NOT MAKE THEM

Both items from Alta Gracia, Dominican Republic

Villa Altagracia (pop. 170,000) is located an hour’s drive north west of the capital, Santo Domingo. It is the site of a pioneering enterprise that is changing the lives of local people will few other employment opporunti4es. Named after its location, Alta Gracia was founded in 2010 as the only apparel company in the developing world that was independently certified as paying a living wage. Alta Gracia, in its own words, “manufactures life-‐changing apparel in the Dominican Republic and sells “collegiate branded products” to the bookstore retail channel. What makes Alta Gracia unique is that we provide a living wage to all workers. A living wage is defined as the income necessary for a worker to meet all of their family’s basic needs. In addition to this salary, we respect our employees’ rights as workers and as human beings, including the right to a safe and healthy workplace, the right to be treated with dignity and respect on the job, and the right to form a union.”

For years Elvira Juan Chale shifted among various clothing factories, working for the minimum wage that barely fed her children and paid the rent. Now, working for Alta Gracia, she makes three times as much and is able to buy land and build a house. “With the money I used to earn, I never could have done this. I never even thought of having my own land. I figured I’d rent forever. Now, I plan, I calculate, and I invest in my house.” Alta Gracia’s unusual path is being monitored by Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Its latest report, “Four Years and Counting”, incorporates a narrated slideshow presentation.

4. ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION

Passion Lilie

Bangalore block printers

New Orleans-based Passion Lilie is a fair trade and eco-friendly apparel brand with a mission to empower artisans across the world by creating dignified employment opportunities. “We believe that these positive job opportunities lead to sustainable societies and a better world”, says Passion Lilie founder Katie Schmidt. Block prints for Passion Lilie are produced at a studio in Bangalore, India that follows ethical labor practices and uses eco-friendly dyes. The manager of the block printing unit, Padmini, recognizes that “unless we pay fair wages, it is not possible for the artisans to sustain and support their families”. Padmini puts the needs of her workers first and treats them like family. Senior staff have been with the studio for over 30 years.

5. FAIR TRADE – IT NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE

MarketPlace : Handwork of India (both items)

MarketPlace: Handwork of India grew out of a very small-scale venture organized in 1980 to help

three low-income women slum-dwellers in Mumbai learn how to sew patchwork quilts by hand, work

they could do at home without having to pay for childcare or equipment. This small experiment

attracted attention from other women in the neighborhood where poor education, cultural barriers,

and religious restrictions place major restrictions on opportunities for women.

In 1990 the first catalog of women's apparel and home decor characterized by traditional Indian hand dyeing and hand embroidery was produced. By 1992 the number of artisans in the group had grown to over 120 and the organization was restructured to encompass multiple independent cooperatives. By owning and running their own cooperatives by-pass traditional middlemen, artisans can achieve meaningful and sustainable self-sufficiency and empowerment. Leadership rotates so that different women have the opportunity to be in charge. The women artisans have always known that education would provide their children with a chance to have a better life. They have overcome daunting odds to make sure that their children have the opportunity to succeed. Currently MarketPlace, a member of the World Fair Trade Organization and Fair Trade Federation, works with over 400 artisans organized into 11 cooperatives.

6. Jeans To Die For

Costs of production ($)

3.69 - material 0.28 – Thread 0.10 - 5 rivets 0.36 - 4 pockets

0.14 – Embroidery 0.06 – Button 0.15 – Zipper 0.10 - Label

0.22 – Hanger 1.65 - Shipping & warehouse charges 0.15 – MAX. COST FOR LABOR

Total: 6.90

Source: “Ninety cents buys safety on $22 Jeans in Bangladesh” (Mehul Shrivastava & Sarah Shannon)

“In Bangladesh, the difference between a safe factory and an unsafe one comes down to a few cents. For just pennies per t-shirt or pair of trousers produced, garment manufacturers could build factories where workers get a decent wage, maternity leave, and overtime, where chemicals and fumes are properly vented, and where hallways and fire exits are well lit and wide enough for everyone inside to flee any danger. Tipu Munshi can explain how. The member of parliament and millionaire owner of Sepal Group, one of the country’s biggest garment manufacturers, charges $1.16 to sew a pair of jeans for Asda, the U.K. subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. He could make clothing for less and often does, but right now, for a pair of 14-pound ($22) George jeans, he’s charging a Hong Kong-based middleman, Li & Fung Ltd., 90 cents plus 26 cents of profit. Anything less, he cautions, and he would have to start cutting corners and compromise worker safety...” More….

Rana Plaza

3,639 workers toiled in five factories housed in the Rana Plaza building producing clothing for some U.S.,

Canadian and European companies. Eighty percent of the workers were young women, 18, 19, 20 years

of age. Their standard shift was 13 to 14 ½ hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 or 10:30 p.m., toiling 90 to 100

hours a week with just two days off a month. Young “helpers” earned 12 cents an hour, while “junior

operators” took home 22 cents an hour.

On Wednesday morning, April 24, 2013, at 8:00a.m., all the garment workers refused to enter the eight-story Rana Plaza building because there were large and dangerous cracks in the factory walls. The owner, Mohammed Sohel Rana, brought paid gang members to beat the workers, women and men, hitting them with sticks to force them to go into the factory. At 8:45a.m. the electricity went out and the factories’ five generators kicked in. Almost immediately the workers felt the eight-story building begin to move and heard a loud explosion as the building collapsed, pancaking downwards. 1,137 were confirmed dead at Rana Plaza. A year later over 200 remained missing. In Bangladesh the difference between a safe factory and an unsafe one comes down to a few cents. Add a dime to each garment the country exports and you get $700m. a year to fix the factories. Over four years almost every sewing shop in Bangladesh could be made safer – with retailers, consumers, middlemen and factory owners splitting the 10 cents per garment. The Rana Plaza tragedy challenged the international garment industry to look again at the grim realities of their supply chains. Initial compensation schemes were set up, though longer term support for badly affected workers remains moot. The garment industry, which features a lot of subcontracting, is not easy to regulate even with the best trained personnel. With many actors drawn into the discussions in the aftermath – governmental, commercial, trade union and non-profit both within Bangladesh and on the international scene – agreements were not easy to find. While US and European retailers paid into compensation funds, some more quickly than others, the Rana Plaza families have strong feelings about the slowness of Bangladesh legal system. During a demonstration by thousands of garment workers on the third anniversary, union leader Abul Hossain told The Peninsula, Qatar’s daily newspaper, “Three years have passed and still we don’t see any justice. No one has been held to account for one of history’s man-made disasters.” Here are a few resources on the Rana Plaza collapse, the aftermath, responses and outstanding issues:

Rana Plaza one year on, April 2014 (The Guardian)

Rana Plaza three years on, April 2016 (Clean Clothes Campaign Press Release) The ‘safety’ tab on the CCC website links to survivor stories and other international media coverage of Rana Plaza.

Rana Plaza three years on - Compensation, Justice & Workers’ Safety (CCC and ILRF) “Analysis – Three years after Rana Plaza disaster, has anything changed?” (Reuters) “Three years after Rana Plaza – Bangladesh’s garment sector still unsafe” (Dorothee Baumann-Pauly) “The Bulk of the Iceberg: A Critique of the Stern Center’s Report on Worker Safety in Bangladesh”

(Mark Anner & Jennifer Bair) Ethical Fashion on Rise in Wake of Disaster (Huffington Post)

JOIN the FAIR TRADE FASHION REVOLUTION

BOOK RECOMMENDATION "Where Am I Wearing” by Kelsey Timmerman

FILM RECOMMENDATION “The True Cost” Dir. Andrew Morgan

SHOP FAIR TRADE FASHIONS

Alta Gracia http://altagraciaapparel.com FLA*

Colored Organics https://www.coloredorganics.com FTUSA

Earth Divas https://www.earthdivas.com FTF

Fair Indigo http://www.fairindigo.com FTUSA

Fair Trade Winds http://www.fairtradewinds.net FTF

Global Mamas http://www.globalmamas.org FTF

Ganesh Himal Trading https://ganeshhimaltrading.com FTF

(Wholesale, but with links to retail shopping) Good and Fair Clothing http://goodandfairclothing.com FTUSA

Indigenous http://www.indigenous.com WFTO

Liz Alig http://www.lizalig.com FTF

Maggie's Organics http://maggiesorganics.com FTF Marigold Fair Trade Clothing http://www.marigoldfairtradeclothing.com FTF

Marketplace India https://www.marketplaceindia.com FTF/WFTO

Mata Traders https://www.matatraders.com FTF

Oliberte' https://www.oliberte.com FTUSA

One World Fair Trade http://www.oneworldfairtrade.net FTF PACT https://www.wearpact.com FTUSA

Patagonia http://www.patagonia.com/us/home FTUSA

prAna http://www.prana.com FTUSA Companies that work with Fair Trade USA offer some clothes that carry the Fair Trade Certified label. Companies that are members of the Fair Trade Federation and World Fair Trade Federation are committed to official Fair Trade principles. Alta Gracia is a founding member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and strongly committed to paying a ‘Living Wage’ and respecting workers’ rights.

Paulette Bertrand, Deb Fitzloff & Paul Renshaw, April 2016