Finding out where your clothes are manufactured is quite simple, read the label. But when it comes to finding out how your clothes were manufactured i.e. under which conditions for the local workers, it can be a daunting and sometimes impossible task.

50% of clothes sold in the UK are made abroad, in places like Morocco, Mexico, China, India and Bangladesh.  Some clothing items are often made by people who are poor and are not paid fairly.  Western world companies have relocated their factories in developing countries where labour is cheap giving them a better chance to maximise company profits. 

For people who have visited the slums of Bangladesh, they would have seen first hand what the working conditions are like for local workers.  A think tank in the UK, War on Want(www.waronwant.org), produced a report in 2006 claiming that Bangladeshi garment workers get paid 5p an hour and work an eighty hour a week, often forced to work overtime and in potentially deadly conditions, all this courtesy of Primark, Asda and Tesco.  Four years on and we're being told that very little has changed.

In 2008, Panorama broadcasted a damaging report on use of child labour in a factory in India used by Primark.  The scandal resulted in calls for Primark to be boycotted.  Primark declined knowledge of such practices and axed 3 of its clothing suppliers in Southern India.

Luckily for fashion lovers, new ethical and fairtrade brands are emerging every day.  Even celebrities like Jo Wood, are jumping on the band wagon and selling ethical clothing, guaranteeing the eco conscious shoppers that noone in its supply chain has been treated unfairly and is being paid a reasonable living wage.  CEO of People Tree (www.peopletree.co.uk) , Safia Minney, started her ethical fashion company in UK in 2001.  Ten years earlier she had founded in Japan the Global Village, an environmental campaigning NGO.  As for the reason Safia Minney started People Tree, she says 'I didn't want children sewing my children's clothes.' and this gave her the motivation to revolutionise the clothing market.

Another company which has caught our cool eye is Rapanui (www.rapanuiclothing.com).  Rapanui was set up by brothers Mart and Rob Drake-Knight in early 2008 on the Isle of White.  What we like about them is their innovative lifecycle traceability supply chain.  At a click of a button, you can see where your item has been manufactured, list of raw materials used and how it has been transported back to UK.  It even shows us an analysis of Co2 per product. It’s not surprising Rapanui won the Sustainability Business Award this year.

“The award is fantastic recognition for our holistic approach to sustainability. So far eco-fashion has been about new fabrics and new ways of manufacturing. We think sustainability is about designing new ways of businesses communicating with consumers, opening up a dialogue with consumers rather than talking at them” said Rob.

“Our traceability technology allows us to do that and allows the market forces of demand and supply to work for sustainability. It’s great to be recognised by our peers for what we think is the right way to do business. We hope that this award inspires others to think about how they do business, it proves that you can be successful in what you believe in, whether you wear flip flops or a suit” said Mart.

So as more brands respond to the call for more transparency and fairer business practices, it might just be possible to change living conditions of some of the poorer people in the world and offer them a decent living standard.  Maybe then, fashion will be restored as the ultimate green expression medium.

Image credit: hevonens http://www.sxc.hu/profile/hevonens