(Courtesy of PeopleTree.co.uk)

Emma Watson strikes us as the type of intelligent, thoughtful actress who really considers the impact her fashion choices can have on her young fans. So we are pleased to see this open letter on fair-trade brand People Tree’s website posted by the Harry Potter star, following a summer trip to Bangladesh with People Tree founder Safia Minney:

The contrast between the slums in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) where the people who work in the garment factories live and Swallows (the Fair Trade community supported by People Tree) was all too apparent. …

I cannot imagine how I would have the mental ability and strength to go into the garment factories in the slums everyday and have my children living six hundred miles away.

We interviewed a woman in the slum in Dhaka. She was very candid about the fact that there just wasn’t any hope for her. There is no hope for anyone living in those conditions and being paid that kind of wage. Coming to Swallows I see that there is an alternative.

The living conditions are modest but it’s clean and there is a real sense of community, their families are together and they seem to love and be proud of what they are doing – many things that we in the West take for granted.

Swallows is special and I need to believe for my own peace of mind that there will be more places like this in the developing countries in the world.

The whole interview is worth reading for its candid look at the benefits fair-trade manufacturing offers workers, and it concludes with a video of Ms. Watson touring Bangladesh and modeling People Tree’s fall collection.

(Courtesy of ShalomNewYork.com)

A controversial law that will ban the import and sale of fur in Israel is set for debate next week. If passed, the law will be the first one in any country that outright bans the fur trade.

AOL News reports:

On Sept. 2, the Knesset is due to debate the second and third readings of the groundbreaking bill introduced by Ronit Tirosh, a legislator from the opposition Kadima Party, to outlaw the production, processing, import, export and sale of fur from all animal species not already part of the meat industry.

There was some opposition from religious groups representing ultra-orthodox Jews, whose traditional festive headgear, known as a shtreimel, is made partly from fox fur. Tirosh introduced a clause in her proposed legislation allowing for the import of fox fur for religious purposes.

Israel’s fur trade generates only about $1 million a year in sales — a tiny slice of the overall $11 billion market. However, the people who do provide that demand for fur will be forced to turn to the black market to get what they want. And we’re not sure that’s an improvement.

Once fur is illegal, there will be no regulatory safeguards (like the Origin Assured program) that will protect how the fur was obtained. Therefore, a ban could potentially lead to worse conditions for animals raised for their fur.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery?

Two models wear sealskin coats by German designer Bente Houmann Andersson. (Courtesy of NunatsiaqOnline.ca)

The contentious European Union ban on Canadian seal fur has been temporarily suspended, pending a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a tribal group that represents 53,000 native Canadians who rely on the seal hunt for their livelihoods.

Canada’s CBC News reports:

The proposed EU ban does exempt trade in seal products that come from aboriginal groups, but [ITK president Mary] Simon said the Inuit fear their sales will still plummet when the ban comes into effect.

“When the market collapses, our market collapses with it,” she said. “This has a very direct impact, and therefore, this Inuit exemption, or so-called Inuit exemption, won’t work for us.”

Animal welfare advocates said the temporary court setback ultimately won’t change the fate of the seal hunt.

“The EU court may wish to look more closely at the ban, but the court of public opinion around the world is clear: the seal slaughter is uniquely cruel and no market wants the pelts,” said Dan Mathews of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“At the end of the day, this is a consumer issue and seal skin has a worse stigma with the public than herpes.”

PETA may be exaggerating about the unanimous rejection of sealskin; recent surveys in China show young, affluent Chinese shoppers are open to it. But then again, the issue isn’t as cut and dried as animal-rights activists would prefer.

For more about the ban’s impact on Inuit communities, read up in our archives.

In a provocative piece for The Guardian, ethical living columnist Lucy Siegle writes about how consumer demand — even something as small as button placement — can have a very real impact on working conditions in factories far, far away:

A CMT (cut-make-trim) factory in India, Bangladesh or Cambodia must be hyper-responsive to cope with design changes from offices in Europe. A last-minute fax insisting that a button needs to be moved sends a poorly funded, badly managed factory into a panic. Third-world firms will never tell western retail superpowers that an order is too difficult, so workers simply must finish it. …

It’s tempting to cast retailers as Dickensian ogres but fast fashion is driven by consumer appetites. We love fashion but we also dump two million tonnes of textile waste (mostly clothing) in landfill each year, which suggests we don’t value it. We get the type of fashion retail we deserve and ask for. We need a new plan.

So the next time you eye the trendy pleather boots that mimic the ones a starlet just wore in this month’s W, consider that they may have cost a garment worker in a developing country her lunch break — or more.

We love it when one good deed leads to another, and following in TOMS Shoes’ charitable footsteps comes the Portland-based 141 Eyewear, a eyeglasses company that donates prescription glasses to people in need.

Kyle Yamaguchi, one of the company’s co-founders, tells us:

The premise behind 141 is simple: For each pair of 141 Eyewear purchased, we give a new pair of glasses to a person in need. No portions of proceeds. No percentages. One Four One.

Our entire line is handcrafted in Japan from the finest plastics and materials; so we aren’t asking our consumers to sacrifice quality or style to make a difference.  I think we do a great job of combining a great fashionable product with a great cause.

Earlier this year, the founders traveled to typhoon-ravaged Taiwan and fitted 200 people for glasses in its first 141 Eyewear Clinic. More clinics are to come, so this is one company worth keeping an eye on.

Iconic feminist scholar Naomi Wolf ponders why modern women are so compelled to shop — especially at “cheap trendy fashion” stores like Zara, Primark, Target, and H&M — when the majority of the world’s apparel is manufactured by foreign women who are virtually enslaved by poverty.

She writes:

[W]hat has been liberating for Western women is a system built literally on the backs of women in the developing world. How do Primark and its competitors in the West’s shopping malls and High Streets keep that cute frock so cheap? By starving and oppressing Bangladeshi, Chinese, Mexican, Haitian, and other women, that’s how.

We all know that cheap clothing is usually made in sweatshop conditions – and usually by women. And we know – or should know – that women in sweatshops around the world report being locked in and forbidden to use bathrooms for long periods, as well as sexual harassment, violent union-busting, and other forms of coercion.

If women around the world who are held in the bondage of sweated labor manage to win this crucial fight, that cute dress at Primark may cost a fair amount more. But it already costs too much to the women who can’t afford to feed and house themselves and their children.

In light of yesterday’s protest in Cambodia, Ms. Wolf’s thought-provoking article is timely indeed.

(via Feministe)

In international news today, striking factory workers in Phnom Penh were beaten and tasered by police this week while protesting their low wages, reports the British media.

The Cambodian workers — mostly women — were earned less than £1 per day (or $1.56 in USD) producing clothes in a factory owned by a Malaysian firm that contracts with apparel brands like Gap, Benetton, Adidas, and Puma. Nine workers were injured in the riot.

The Daily Mail writes:

All four clothing and sporting companies linked to the factory have come under severe criticism from investigators for the harsh conditions endured and low wages given to their Third World employees.

Reports by charities such as Oxfam have found that the apparel industry, whether for designer labels or for garments that carry the names of big sporting companies such as Adidas, Nike and Puma, uses and abuses sweatshops.

Oxfam points out that workers in developing countries are paid minimal wages and are often forced to endure long hours in harsh and often dangerous conditions producing some of the world’s most expensive and coveted brands.

It’s particularly unsettling news given that Benetton is so well-known for its marketing campaigns invoking human rights, like the 1998 ad reprinted above.

Want to speak out on behalf of these workers? Sign up to receive the Clean Clothes Campaign newsletter for activism in your area.

Tetta Matera, a writer for the Philippine Star, used her column inches today to explore what has become known as “purse parties,” social events at which upper-middle-class women in the Philippines enjoy hors d’oeuvres and cocktails while browsing counterfeit luxury merchandise. The practice is illegal, but that fact has done little to quell its popularity — not just overseas but in America as well.

Ms. Matera writes on the ripple effects of these parties:

A researcher named Renee Richardson Gosline became curious about the phenomenon and conducted research over a period of two and a half years. She followed purse parties and traveled through social networks to document the attendees’ behavior. She found that most of the women didn’t seem to mind the illegality of their behavior because of the friendly atmosphere at the parties. But what she didn’t expect was, over a period of time, these women began checking out the brands’ websites and became converts to the real thing. They reconciled their dishonest public behavior with their positive, private self-image and the latter one won over time. In the end these women realized that nothing could substitute for the real deal.

With gorgeous designer bags now at all price points — one new favorite of ours is the Michael Kors Hamilton, a bargain at under $300 — there’s no good reason to buy fake anymore.

Keith Johnson, the star of television series Man Shops Globe on the Sundance Channel, is also incidentally the found objects buyer for Anthropologie, traveling the world to find interesting textures and designs to incorporate into Anthro’s ethnically-inspired line of clothing and accessories. (If you think this guy sounds like he has the best job in the world, you have a lot of company.)

In a recent interview posted on Anthropologie’s website, he talks about his shopping strategies and how to avoid the dreaded buyer’s remorse:

I always look for integrity. I don’t like things that have been monkeyed around with too much — or if they have been manipulated, it has to be intentional, almost ironic. I also look for things with a great patina or things that narrate the experience of where I am. …

I used to feel I needed to buy variety. It made me make choices that weren’t based on falling in love with something. The thing with found objects is you have to be open to happening upon something and responding to it. If you have too strong an agenda, you are going to force your eye into seeing things that may not be there.

Sounds right in line with our thoughts on successful thrift shopping. The point being: The secret to being a world-class shopper is selectiveness. And with enough patience and an eye for quality, anyone can become one.

Everybody, at some point, figures out that all clothes are not created equal, despite the fact I made my first pair of shorts at the ripe of age of seven, it wasn’t until I was 18 at an outlet mall that I realized not all clothes are created equal. We all may begin to think about ethical style in different ways and at different times, but I’m just happy when another person discovers their own personal fashion ethics. Here are a few stories of other people’s discovery. –Kara Cook

A few years ago, I became fascinated with the concept of barefoot running and the materials and technology that go into make “barefoot” shoes. The New Yorker had an article on them and I remember scouring it and then looking for other resources and information on the barefoot phenomenon and shoes which replicated barefoot movement or the sensation of running in bare feet, like Nike Free, Vibram Five Fingers, Vivo Bare, etc. I loved the fashion sense of the Vivo Bare, all while feeling like I was doing something good for my feet with a company that was unique. Now, I want to get more of them.
–Katherine from Connecticut

When we discover the origin of where most of our modern-day clothing comes from and who is behind sewing the hem of your pants or the seams of your blouse — sweatshops in 3rd world countries with abominable working standards grossly under U.S. standards — it is rather unsettling. But what are the options to avoid supporting such a depraved system? When I was in 7th grade my mother would take me to a consignment store where I found most of my wardrobe. Fortunately for me, my classmates appreciated my vibrant wardrobe. As a young person I shopped at consignment shops to save money, but as an adult I shop at consignment shops to find vintage styles and avoid supporting the giant sweatshop machine, which is behind nearly every commercial fashion label…I save money too!
–Jenny from Texas

I was standing in a crowded, smoke filled bar… well, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad. I was at my favorite country bar when I happened to notice that most of the people on the dance floor were dancing in beautiful cowboy boots. There were a few flip-flops here and there, but most of the “true” devotees wore leather cowboy boots. In that moment I knew that I wanted to buy myself — in all my California glory — a pair of genuine cowboy boots. When I returned to California for a visit I convinced my mom to go shopping. We walked into the one western store in California and that’s when I saw them: the perfect leather boots for my line dancing ways. I knew that they were going to be an investment, but that the trade-off would be the wear I would get from them because of durable exterior and solidly constructed interior. Those boots have been dancing (or walking), ever since.
–Angelena from California

Even though I don’t think about it too much, most of my eclectic bracelets and necklaces are recycled. One of my favorite memories growing up was sitting at my grandma’s kitchen table while she poured out pile after pile of her old jewelry, telling me I could pick out whatever I wanted! Hence my jewelry box is overflowing with everything from genuine stone necklaces, to lightning bolt earrings, big bangle bracelets, and rings from the 1920′s. Those small treasures mean more to me now than ever before. My sweet grandma recently had to move into an assisted living home and her health is rapidly declining. Each time I put on a piece of her jewelry — no matter how funky or out of style — it reminds me of her and makes me thankful for family.
–Sarah from Alabama

My first encounter with ethical style wasn’t something I was looking for – or to be honest – had ever really given much thought to. I was studying in Morocco and made the obligatory trip to Fes (or Fez for you westerners). Fes is home to the famous Moroccan tanneries, a smelly and involved process to dye and craft genuine leather goods. Now Morocco wasn’t my first encounter with local artisans or even my first time seeing a craft produced from beginning to end, but the tanneries of Fes were my first view into the old world process of producing leather goods that made you feel good about the quality of leather you were purchasing and the value of buying a bag (or shoes, or jacket, or ottoman, or all of the above) that would last a lifetime. I may have bought more than one leather bag in Morocco – but they’re still getting lots of use – and will continue to carry my books, and car keys, and wallet for years to come.
–Ally from Louisiana

Ethics and shopping is something that hit close to home with me the first time I ever left the continent. It was to Ghana, West Africa for two weeks the summer after I graduated high school. I’d never been to somewhere so poor. On a trip we got an opportunity to go to the local market to shop for gifts for friends, family and supporters. The translators took us to the “tourist” market with their colorful clothing, cool and funky jewelry, beautiful batiks and many, many other things all handmade with the makers standing there selling them. Even though we knew that the prices were “jacked up” because they like to haggle and tourists don’t know the local value of things, I always felt bad in the midst of the price banter because all I could think was, “Am I really haggling over the difference between 5 and 10 dollars for this?”

Turns out, the exchange is quite fun when you realize that haggling is the people’s social time and that they would never go below what’s necessary to sustain their family. Anyway, even though I learned to haggle, I still have a tendency to overpay for things and let them think they swindled me because in the end, it could feed a whole family where they wouldn’t have been able to eat before. All this to say, I really pay attention now that I’m back in the U.S. to which stores sell fair-trade products. I have never had buyer’s remorse from single fair trade item I’ve purchased. And how often can you say that?
–Chelsea from California

The modern age teaches us rather impatience.  We are encouraged toward fast food to satiate quick-forming appetites, soundbites to cut to the chase, cheap “disposable” clothing to suit every passing whim.  Gone is a life of contemplation, appreciation for the craft of the things with which we surround ourselves.  These days, it’s practically vogue to do what I’m doing — disparaging mass production.  And really, Walmart and China may be praised today for making more things available to more people.  But “more” — more emails per minute, more food on your plate, more plastic cups per dollar — isn’t always better.  I worry about the volume our modern culture has enabled us to have has supplanted a deeper appreciation for higher things, things made, written, and crafted with thought. --world traveler and blogger Ms. Glasses