The eco-fashion houses profiled here are the pioneers in fair trade fashion and style. They founded their labels with the intent to help women and communitiesin unforgiving circumstances. They set up training and stable employment for women who in turn, help produce sustainable fashions for their companies. They invest profits back into women and their communities for education, health and homes. Women who, without help, would be living in “crushing poverty with hope for prosperity as scarce as jobs,” in the words of Indigenous Designs’ president, Matt Reynolds. These eco style leaders paid fair wages and provided good working conditions, without harming the planet or it’s life, long before socially conscious business models were in vogue. These inner principals simply guided how each of these companies did fashion. Now, in today’s tight global economy, fair trade fashion is not just surviving, green statistics indicate that fair trade fashion is thriving. It could be good timing or it could simply be doing the right thing.
Either way, Indigenous Designs Matt Reynolds knows exactly why he does it.
“Knowing that my daily actions are helping to benefit people and the planet,” Reynolds said. “I wake up feeling good about what I do everyday.” Indigenous Designs’ co-founder Scott Leonard was part of the original Organic Fiber Council that set up the standards for organic cotton. In 1994, armed with a groundbreaking apparel model, Indigenous Designs was created, incorporating both ecological stewardship and social justice.
Read the full article from this months Coco Eco here.
