People Tree

I spent a significant part of 2010 researching Fair Trade and its impact on (female) producers for my undergraduate dissertation. What I found was that, although there is still a lot of room for improvement, an important and significant start has been made. Many Fair Trade organisations in developing countries do actually care a lot about their producers and try to improve their lives through higher wages, education opportunities and addressing important social issues. However, one problem is that to a large extent the Fair Trade handicraft and textile market is losing ground and does not seem to be as popular among young and mainstream consumers as for example organic clothing is. Whereas the latter is now widely available from stores such as H&M, Fair Trade clothing is still largely limited to being sold in Fair Trade shops.

Which is why I love People Tree. They show that Fair Trade clothing can be fashionable. Getting Emma Watson involved was great for publicity and will hopefully attract a new range of customers. Although the items are not cheap, you know your money will help to improve someone's life. Finally, for those with big hearts but little money, check out their sale; many items are being sold for half the original price or less.