fair trade

Apparel and Fair Trade

The term “fair trade” gets thrown around a lot these days, and unfortunately gets misused quite a bit.  To us at District Cotton the core principle behind fair trade is to create an economic partnership which allows producers to gain from their efforts right alongside of their customers.  In immediate terms, this means providing workers with a real living wage, respectable working conditions, and adequate access to health care.  As part of the bigger picture, however, fair trade means creating conditions which encourage real economic growth fostered through long term relationships and a genuine commitment to our business partners.

Unfortunately, the application of fair trade standards to the apparel industry has not been as smooth as many would have hoped.  In the summer of 2006 Trans-Fair USA produced a lengthy report detailing what they saw as the obstacles to developing a certification system for fair trade apparel and decided against creating such a process.  As such there is currently no independent third-party certifier of apparel in the United States leaving the fair trade designation strictly to the discretion of the manufacturer.  While this lack of an official certification process may create uncertainty and doubt among consumers, several forward-thinking clothing companies are working towards establishing fair trade “norms” for the clothing industry; much as fair trade coffee pioneers Equal Exchange did during the early 1990’s.  At District Cotton we have a strict labor compliance policy for all of the goods we sell, but only apply the fair trade designation to those items which come from some of the world’s most exemplary factories.  District Cotton strongly supports the creation of an independent third-party organization to establish and certify fair trade apparel standards.  In the meantime, we are proud to use the fair trade designation to recognize the accomplishments of our most progressive suppliers. 

District Cotton is currently working to create an entire line of fair trade apparel which is as fashionable and functional as our organics.  As a relatively new concept in the industry, there are very few factories around the world producing apparel under conditions worthy of the fair trade banner.  Check back with us soon.