ethical fashionThe stories from fashion supply chains connected to our high streets make for tough reading. It's complex and we're not perfect, but we think we've got a long way along the journey to fixing it.
Ethical fashion is about people. The people who farm the cotton, the people who cut and sew our t-shirts in India - the environment too, as the people who inherit the land can't pay for our bargain today by suffering tomorrow. The people who work at our factory or offices in the UK matter equally. Better design of one product can mean a better quality of life for hundreds or even thousands of people. We make clothes from Rapanui's 100% Certified organic cotton, in an ethically accredited, wind powered factory and providetraceability - plus handy clothing ecolabels at the point of purchase. In 2010 Rapanui won the RSPCA Good Business Award for Fashion Innovation for our work on Ethical Fashion. Organic farming means less pesticides and fertilisers that seriously affect the health of those who use them, especially in India where health & safety traning and equipment is hard to come by. Organic Cotton Certification comes with some requirements as to the labour force, covering forced or child labour, workers rights and fair pay. The factory that makes all our products subscribes to the Fairwear Foundation code of practises meaning safe, well lit and well paid working conditions - you can see the sewing hall in the photo and see more in our trace maps. Doing the right thing is pointless unless it can be grown and sustained. Our eco-labelling and traceability tools are compatible with business and scale. Each Briton spends on average £630 on clothing each year equivalent to 50 items. Few people consider where an item was made, how it was made and who made it. Millions of garment and textile workers face poor working conditions and limits on their rights and freedoms every day. We have created our business around a supply chain that is traceable, considerate of the people in it and their futures, and funded with a business model designed to give our customers better information, to make better choices, to find out where our clothing comes from and how it is made. |
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