First Fair Trade certified apparel products launched

02 Dec '10

5 min read

Plenty of fashion brands call themselves fair, but a label that ensures fairness from the cotton field to your hanger hasn't been on the shelves... until now. Just in time for the holidays, Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair USA), the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, announces that a full range of Fair Trade Certified clothing items are now available in the United States as part of a two-year pilot test.

This isn't hippie fashion. Fair Trade is runway ready with great looks like celebrity-designed Fair Trade Certified graphic tees by Project Runway's Korto Momolu and the up-and-coming fashion house Bacca da Silva from Liberty & Justice, boxers and luscious 100 percent organic women's undies from newcomer Good & Fair, and tees from sustainability pioneer PrAna.

"Maybe you've already had a green makeover, but ethical fashion is about more than just protecting the environment. It's about people, and 'fair' is just a knock-off without third-party certification to deliver the proof," said Heather Franzese, Senior Manager of Apparel and Linens. "With the Fair Trade Certified label, consumers can now be confident that cotton farmers and factory workers earn more and have safe working conditions, the environment was protected, and the people who made the high-quality product can look forward to brighter futures."

The following sustainable fashions are ready for the holiday season from pioneering brands working with best-in-class Fair Trade manufacturing facilities and cooperatives in Costa Rica, India and Liberia:

• Liberty & Justice (San Francisco) is made by the Liberian Women's Sewing Project, which creates sustainable jobs for women's sewing cooperatives and provides workforce development training as well as health and education programs. Celebrity designed tees for men and women are now available online and in select locations.
• Good and Fair Clothing (Austin, TX) is a new fashion brand that strives to create clothes that are both good to the earth and fair to people. Men's and women's tees and underpants are now available online and at local Austin retail locations.
• HAE Now (El Sobrante, CA), which stands for Humans, Animals and Environment Now, offers organic t-shirts and other blanks for wholesale, promotional printing and private label needs. All their products are made with organic cotton from the Chetna project, a farmer-owned collective in India.
• Maggie's Organics (Ypsilanti, MI) is one of the oldest eco-apparel companies in the United States. Bena Burda, its founder, has been involved with the Fair Trade Certified Apparel and Linens Pilot since 2005, when Fair Trade USA first began to explore the sector. Women's dresses, Men's shirts, scarves, wraps, hoodies and camisoles are available online, and at Whole Foods Markets locations across the United States.
• Tompkins Point Apparel (Wyckoff, NJ), is a Fair Tradeand organic clothing brand that creates classic American menswear while serving as a vehicle for social change. The brand donates 25 percent of its profits to education and economic development projects in the communities from which the company sources its products.

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