Fair trade comes to Malmesbury

A new branch of Bishopston trading company has opened quite near to me in Malmesbury.  They are a pioneer trade company and have been working with produce partners in a village in South India for 24 years.  Bishopston sell a unique range of clothing for adults and children made from Fairtrade certified organic cotton. The [...]

Petition Primark

Why not add your name to this petition organised by War on Want and People Tree (my favourite fair trade fashion pioneers!).  It is written to Primark’s Ethical Trading Director and asks them to stop exploiting garment workers. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/primark/

The Life You Can Save

Philosopher Peter Singer has written a new book by the name of The Life You Can Save, there is also an accompanying website www.thelifeyoucansave.com where visitors can pledge to up their giving to the world’s poor to levels that really make a difference. 27,000 children will die today in the developing world from preventable causes.  We live in [...]

London Fashion Week and Poverty

London Fashion Week opens today facing accusations that garment workers are paid poverty wages producing clothing for some of Britain’s largest retailers.With the week starting on the first UN Day of Social Justice, a charity warned that exploitation haunts the event. War on Want has campaigned against systemic abuse of overseas garment workers, toiling marathon [...]

The Green (& Ethical) Parent

The February/March issue of Green Parent has special 15 page section devoted to Ethical Fashion including Childrens wear. In it they advocate Slow Fashion, that is about appreciating quality and a garment’s true value, rather than fast fashion that is about selling more more quickly. Did you know conventional cotton farming is responsible for 22% [...]

Fat Face – blacklist or not?

I wrote to Fat Face over a month ago and have heard nothing back from them, so they are nominally on my blacklist although I still hold out hope that they will reply.  Fat Face are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and have an ethical policy available on their website so it would seem [...]

It made me want to cry

The other day my daughter was given a t-shirt from Asda/George that cost just £2, it made me want to cry.  Clothing is always made by hand and given that the item only cost £2 the person making it must surely have been paid less than 20p for making it, costs such as fabric/shipping and then Asda’s [...]

Letter to Dorothy Perkins

I have just printed off my letter to Dorothy Perkins asking them about their commitment to ethical trade and the treatment of their workers in developing countries.  On their website there is no ethical policy and they are not members of ETI (the Ethical Trading Initiative) which is disappointing.  In the ‘Lets Clean up Fashion’ [...]

Letter to Debenhams

Debenhams have an influential positoin on the British High Street as they not only sell their own clothing ranges, but also those of other designers such as: Jasper Conran, John Rocha, Betty Jackson, Julien MacDonald, Matthew Williamson, Pearce II Fionda, Ben De Lisi, Pip, Hackett and Ted Baker amongst others. I have written to them [...]

Letter to Boots

I have written to Boots about their ethical practices, they are rather odd in that they are signed up with ETI (The Ethical trading Initiative) yet make no mention of an ethical policy on their website – you’d think they’d want to make more of the work they are doing with ETI.  So I’ve told [...]