Fairtrade fashion collection

15 February 2010

Print this page

The Fairtrade Foundation has compiled a collection of some of the best high street clothing made from Fairtrade cotton, with the help of fashion stylist Rachel Fanconi, marking the start of a year long initiative bid to shake up British fashion.

The campaign aims to call on the industry to make fashion fairer by spreading awareness of the human and environmental legacy that goes into the cotton in our clothes. The initiative marks the start of the fifth anniversary of Fairtrade cotton and will be launched at the start of Fairtrade Fortnight (22 February – 7 March 2010).

The ‘Fairtrade Fashion Collection’ aims to show how beautiful Fairtrade cotton can be and how easy it is to swap your everyday look to Fairtrade. Part of the collection was photographed by celebrity photographer Trevor Leighton in a series of six images to be exhibited at the end of the year. The collection will be displayed at the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight at RIBA on 22 February and will then accompany a tour of leading fashion colleges. The collection includes:

• Annie Greenabelle’s peach/back/white vintage school dress with striped skirt
• Asos.com’s cream plain single jersey – 150 crew neck fringed with black
• Asos.com’s white t-shirt
• Life’s Not Fair But My Knickers Are’s blue cami with cream polka dot and lace trim
• Life’s Not Fair But My Knickers Are’s blue knicker with cream polka dot and lace trim
• Monsoon’s blue and grey striped cardigan
• Monsoon’s pink love bird top
• Onagono’s black trousers with button detail and white drawstring
• People Tree’s red/blue frill sleeve stripe dress
• People Tree’s strappy belted dress
• People Tree’s twist front stripe top
• Tesco’s boyfriend cardigan
• Tesco’s white t-shirt
• Topshop’s Fairtrade cotton denim bottoms
• Warehouse’s khaki green kaftan
• Warehouse’s khaki green peg leg trousers

Fairtrade Fortnight also sees the launch of a Fairtrade clothing collection designed by Emma Watson for People Tree and a range of t-shirts designed by the Beckhams for Sports Relief.

– ENDS –

       Notes to Editor

1     FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label is now recognised by 72% of UK consumers and appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7.5 million people – farmers, workers and their families – across 58 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.

Over 4,500 products have been licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark including coffee, tea, herbal teas, chocolate, cocoa, sugar, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, avocados, apples, pears, plums, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, satsumas, clementines, mandarins, lychees, coconuts, dried fruit, juices, smoothies, biscuits, cakes & snacks, honey, jams & preserves, chutney & sauces, rice, quinoa, herbs &  spices, seeds, nuts & nut oil, wines, beers, rum, confectionary, muesli, cereal bars, yoghurt, ice-cream, flowers, sports balls, sugar body scrub and cotton products including clothing, homeware, cloth toys, cotton wool and olive oil.

7 in 10 households purchase Fairtrade goods, including an extra 1.3 million more households in 2008, helping Fairtrade sales reach an estimated £700m in 2008, a 43% increase on the previous year. There are over 460 producer organisations selling to the UK and by the end of October 2008 872 certified producer groups were in the global Fairtrade system, representing more than 1.5 million farmers and workers.