Western Fairtrade, Indian Signature

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Provo, “We work to make the decision to buy fairtrade products an easy one by selling garments made from stunning fabrics and in fashionable designs.” The garments are vegetable dyed and handblock prin-ted to attract environmentally and socially responsible consumers.

Follow Your Bliss in Houlton, Maine, also sources fisherman-wrap pants, skirts, and men’s and women’s shirts from India. Says owner Tanya A Pasquarelli, “I work hard identifying and obtaining fairtrade merchandise. We utilise fairtrade and fair labour practices as a paramount benchmark for our selectively chosen buying partners, artisans and craftspeople.” The company is continuously on the look out for sourcing products from community projects, individual artists and women’s groups In India.

Fairtrade products are at a disadvantage in the market, though. They come at a higher price tag. Still Rajesh Redij-Gill of Bombay Bedspread Company try to price their products to suit the producer as well as the buyer. Elaborates Rajesh, “We believe that by introducing a high quality product at a fair price we will enlarge the market and a smaller price difference will tempt the consumer who wants to support fairtrade but has been so far priced out.”

Different stores try different means, though. Says Randles of By Nature, “We educate our customers to make them understand that cheap fashion comes at a high price to growers and workers in developing countries.”

Adds Seagrave of Eka, “The products do cost a bit more, but customers get a lot more for their money. When they buy into an ethical brand, they make a statement of conscientious fashion.”

Their efforts seem to be paying off. Customers don’t seem to be complaining of higher prices, but of lack of enough ethical products in the market, says store owners. Big players are already taking note of it. Smelling green bucks, top end shops like Top Shop, M&S and Next too have ventured into the ethical segment.

Lack of a system of fairtrade labeling could become an issue in the future, though. Presently, the quality is ensured by suppliers and buyers themselves. Adidas Jacob of Mumbai-based Asha Handicrafts, which has an ISO 9000 certificate, says that they do self-assessment of their supply chain.

Devika Sonar of Kolkata-based Sasha, which is a member of the International Federation for Alternative Trade and the Fair Trade Forum, Asia, also says that they are guided by self-assessment. Most of the buyers too conduct their own scrutiny.