A UK Guide To Ethical Clothes Stores
Unfortunately many big branded clothes retailers have a less than impressive ethical record. Stories of labour abuse in garment factories that are little more than sweatshops have been rife in recent years, for a number of international brands.
As a result of consumer demand many large brands and high street stores have been making progress in improving working conditions in their suppliers’ factories; but many ethical consumers still prefer to shop at smaller clothes retailers where there is much greater transparency.
Many specialist clothes retailers focus on selling clothes which have a strong ethical record, including transparency about how the item was created, and a greater degree of transparency about the working conditions and contracts of the workers directly involved in its production.
Ethical Online Clothes Retailers
Here are some popular Ethical and Fair Traded Online Clothes Shops:
Hug
www.hug.co.uk
Hug fair traded and organic womenswear, menswear and kids clothing. Wide range of elegant clothes and streetwear including hoodies, dresses, t-shirts, trousers, skirts, knitwear bags and more.
Epona
www.eponaclothing.com
Good range of organic and fair traded clothes and hoodies, T shirts. Fair traded certified cotton products are a speciality from Epona. They also provide blank street fashion clothes which can be customised for tour shirts; work clothes, etc.
Ganesha
www.ganesha.co.uk
Fair Trade partnership shop Ganesha provides a range of skirts, T shirts and accessories as well as household items; all imported from India, sourced and developed with co-operatives and producer associations.
People Tree
www.peopletree.co.uk
Committed and pioneering Fair Trade fashion emporium offering a wide range of stylish fair traded fashion and designer clothes for adults and children.
Natural Collection
www.naturalcollection.com
Wide variety of eco, organic and fairly traded fashion – extensive fashion wear, underwear, sportswear, knitwear; and other ranges of products too.
Green Fibres
www.greenfibres.com
Popular large-scale organic clothes and textiles company providing natural, organic and ethically sourced garments, bedding, linen, mattresses, etc.
Tonic T Shirts
www.tonictshirts.com
www.spunky.co.uk
Organic Eco fashion wear: mainly T shirts with a post-modern iron look: retro styles, etc. All clothing is UK produced by skilled workers who are paid above the minimum wage.
Growth of Fair Traded and Organic Clothing Online
Ethical Clothes are a growing market in the UK, with new suppliers coming online all the time. Especially with the advent of the Internet and cheaper forms of creating online businesses, such as blogging software available, it is relatively easy these days to set up a new small scale or medium sized business specialising in clothes.
For that reason as with any supplier it is a good idea to check the credentials of anything purporting to be ethical. Fair Trade clothes, like any Fair Trade products come with a certifiable Fair Trade Mark. Many clothing firms are also happy to publish details of their green credentials, ethical projects they are involved and other commitments to ethical trading.
Mutuals and Other Ethical Member Owned Organisations
Links between Mutual organisations in the financial services sector including building societies, mutual insurers, foundation trusts and co-operatives as well as member run organisations from across the health, education and retail sectors are increasing. In 2008 there was a first national event to bring together this ethical family of mutuals and member run organisations, all for organisations owned by members and not shareholders.