Check the label

Check the label

You want the latest look but how can you tell whether clothes are ethical or not when you’re browsing the rails? Luckily there’s a growing range of beautiful designs made with people and planet in mind.

Ethical boutiques

Online retailers such as Adili and Equa sell clothes and accessories made to high ethical standards. Both companies evaluate the labels they stock to ensure they meet environmental and social criteria.

On the high street, clothes made from organic or Fairtrade cotton are now readily available, from jeans to T-shirts. Checking the label is one way of seeing what environmental and social standards clothes meet.

Fairtrade mark

You may have seen the Fairtrade Mark on bananas and coffee. It now appears on cotton clothing too. For a T-shirt, dress or other cotton product to display the Fairtrade mark, it has to meet internationally agreed standards, ensuring cotton farmers are paid a fair price, and receive a little extra to invest in their communities.

The Fairtrade standards only cover the first step in the production of a garment, the raw cotton, but every stage is monitored to make sure it meets minimum labour standards. Producers also have to meet basic environmental standards.

Organic

Organic products are made using fewer pesticides or chemical fertilisers, which has big health and safety benefits for cotton farmers and is good for the environment too.

If a label says ‘100% organic cotton’, you know the raw cotton was grown organically. If you want to make sure the entire production process of the garment meets organic standards, look for labels from the Soil Association, SKAL and Naturtextil.

These three organisations certify the producers use environmentally-friendly dyes and processes throughout.

Where can I buy it? – The Soil Association and Pesticide Action Network list stockists of organic cotton clothing.

Do your homework

Organic and Fairtrade cotton are still a tiny part of the clothing market. For a large fashion company, its ethical lines will represent just a small percentage of its complete range.

One way of checking up on the rest of a company’s products and processes is to see whether it is a member of an ethical trading organisation.

International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) members include fashion companies like People Tree and Bishopston Trading that are dedicated to fair trade principles across their businesses.

Stores that are members of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) stock fairly traded clothing and accessories. A growing number of high street fashion retailers are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which aims to ensure good working conditions for people producing clothes for UK shops.

There are other labels focusing on specific environmental or social aspects of production. Read more on the Ethical Fashion Forum website.

Source: bbc.co.uk