You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'rag trade' category.
I read the other day a very honest account from Saffia Minney, the founder of People Tree, of the difficulties she has had establishing the People Tree brand in the UK.
This is interesting, I had long had questions about People Tree, I couldnt believe they were making the amount of profit their profile suggested, and I suspected the deep pockets of Ms Minney and her banker husband were being explored with regularity.
Talking to people in Eco fashion over the last few years, I have heard many complaints about People Tree, and their percieved success, despite the fact that the quality wasnt considered particularly good by those who spoke to me. Having never properly examined any people tree produce myself, I cant comment on that.
I have however seen other firms go out of business over the last few years, shops and clothing producers. These were the people who had gone for it, stuck their necks out and taken the risks, but without any seriously big money or marketing nowse behind them.
I have watched with interest as Howies have apparently turned an economic corner, on their way to being a stable brand along side the likes of Fat Face, with high street shops in fashionable places. But Howies of course owe that in part to their relatively new owners Timberland. When I first came across Howies, I think they would have run a mile from Timberland, (maybe I’m wrong) but now they seem happy to be part of the American giant’s family.
All this is interesting and sobering for me, as I continue to explore establishing my own clothing business. It makes me glad I didnt rush into it, and even more so now as I seem to have found a business partner who has the same heart as me, and all the logistical arrangements already in place to make a great business. But if People Tree cant make the books balance yet in the UK (it took them eight years in Japan, still counting here) how long will it take us to do so?
And yet there is something right about it all, until we get to the point where cheap exploitative clothing is no longer the standard we measure everything else by, and we no longer think that good quality clothing made in proper conditions by fairly treated, well supported producers is ‘unaffordable’ then there is a lot of very worthwhile, even necessary work to do.
Hats off to Saffia Minney, hats off too to the people who tried to breakthrough, but didnt have the cash behind them to fall back on. You guys are heroes, and one day you will be shown to be right. You can be proud of what you have tried to do, and you will have something good to tell your grandchildren one day.
I do believe still that we should all consume less clothing by the way, and where possible make our own, buy second hand and so on, but I do recognise that new clothes do need to be made, and if we’re going to make them, it needs to be done properly, no more undercover slavery.
Previous posts on this sort of subject…
Ethical fashion - oh the difficulties; The terrible truth about ethical business
I’m off to Cambodia again in November to see if we can move the organic cotton project on a bit - unfortunately I’ve just spent the best part of a year being led up a garden path by someone who shall remain nameless… he knows who he is… a lot of time has been wasted, and when you are dealing with very poor people, time is valuable!
So I think it’s back to where I left off, working on setting up a small community based project. I think I can get the seeds, the land too shouldnt be a big problem, the expertise is at hand, now the next stage is fiding someone who can process the stuff - no point in growing it if we can’t sell it.
I’m considerably happier about the idea of setting this up on a small scale again, it allows the project to be much more personal, and to have a real community level impact. Hopefully too it should be replicateable and scalable - in other words there should be some sustainability built in, something which is far from guaranteed when one works on a larger/commercial scale.
I am encouraged, although to be honest still annoyed at having wasted so much time on someone elses’ ego trip.
More as it develops… and yes I am looking for people who can process cotton on a small scale (or any scale) in Cambodia, so if you can help me in any way, please let me know!
I missed this one the other day, but it will go some way to encouraging us all (I hope) to abandon our old non organic cotton ways… and those Uzbeks eh!?
a good edition of the moral maze on tonight (weds) - all about ethical trade, after the “surprise” news this week about supermarkets buying stuff from sweatshops… gosh, I can’t believe it, I honestly thought they were buying their incredibly cheap and poor quality clothing from high quality manufacturers who were paying their workers a good wage!
Moral Maze, always worth checking out for decent debate and analysis.
An article in the guardian/observer tells the tail of how animal tails, an ethical teeshirt company got going - sounds tough.
But to be honest, it seems to me that they had it relatively easy. There is no mention of limited funds, which is usually an important part of the equation for small ethical labels. These guys were at least seemingly able to absorb the hits they took on dodgy quality.
They have also decided they can sell teeshirts, which is a big ask in ethical fashion terms - everybody sells teeshirts! They have clearly done significant makrket research though, so I’m sure they know what they are doing.
Also, they seemed happy(ish) to source from Turkey or India - wherever they could get stuff from, they weren’t tied to a particular country which many ethical labels are.
And perhaps best of all, they just got a nice bit of PR courtesy of the afore mentioned national newspaper - which wont do them any harm!
Nobody is even mentioning the whole ‘buy less stuff’ side of things, so I wont spoil the party.
talking of big promises, treehugger have a good write up for Timberland, owner of everybodys favourite Cardigan bay based ethical sportswear brand.
aiming for total carbon neutrality eh… I’m impressed, although I still have some mixed feelings about any company which like them aim to sell more stuff.
It’s a tricky old subject, can there really be such a thing as ethical business?
I have a meeting in Ammanford this afternoon, its a small town not far from Llanelli, where I live.
The interesting thing (to me) about Ammanford is that it has an unusual amount of green companies and people doing business there, for instance:
Okay, so it isnt Machynlleth, which is a remarkable little place, full of all kinds of eco enterprises, but that is (in my opinion) down to the amount of hippies who went there and settled down, starting green businesses. Ammanford doesnt have hippies wandering the streets, its just an ordinary Welsh town, but with some wonderful and extraordinary people.
For the eco tourist by the way - Wales is the place to come. In fact, its pretty nice if you’re eco inclined or not.
Organic cotton is very hard to come by. The scarcity has led some to call it ‘white gold’ because a good supply can be very valuable. To others the scarcity is a worry, mainly because if demand continues to outstrip supply, the demand may well begin to dry up.
More and more companies are beginning to convert to Organic cotton in small percentages. Manufacturers like Nike and Marks and Spencer among others have actually led the way in this.
Out front there have always been the small guys of course.
If you are interested in sourcing Organic cotton for your clothing range, or for a smaller project, then get in touch, and I can pass on some suggestions. For big business, I would suggest, as a first port of call, organic exchange, which is very good indeed.
For more info on Organic cotton generally, (and why I believe - along with others that it is very much part of the future of the garment industry) please see articles linked to the tag cotton in the sidebar.
Recent Comments