Forge Press takes a closer look into the world of ethical products, and the rising success of Fairtrade trainer brand Veja, to discover that conscience-free fashion doesn’t have to be purse-punishing.
Would you rather be a slave to fashion, or to your conscience? Once upon a time, the choice was such that it was fashion every time. But gone are the days when wearing your conscience on your sleeve was twinned inexorably with lumpy sweaters, tie-dye skirts and string vests. With the advent of ethically-sound clothing labels, the two are not mutually exclusive anymore.
The Fairtrade boom in recent years has been hard to ignore. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, recognised as the UK’s leading authority on Fairtrade, 70% of us are aware of what the Fairtrade logo mean, and an estimated £157 million was spent on Fairtrade coffee alone last year – up a colossal £143.4 million on 1998. And while some may still associate Fairtrade with overpriced chocolate bars, Fairtrade products are now infiltrating more and more into our daily lives. From herbs to honey, shower gel to sports balls, living a guilt-free life has never been easier.
But are ordinary people, especially cash-strapped students, sold on the idea of Fairtrade fashion, synonymous as it is as much with high prices as high moral ground? When budget friendly doesn’t always coincide with environmentally friendly, projects like Veja, a Fairtrade shoe producer, can be a real breath of fresh air. The project, founded by graduates Sébastien Kopp and François Ghislain, creates trainers in a way which is both environmentally friendly and sustainable. By sticking to a ‘zero zero’ strategy, which entails no advertising (bar a website), Veja can afford to sell their products at competitive prices whilst still retaining their ethical status.
After finishing university in 2003, Sébastien and François travelled the world, investigating different sustainable development projects. From Chinese factories, to South African mines and the Amazonian rainforest, the two looked for solution to what they saw as the key problems of our times: massive deforestation, the exhaustion of natural resources, and labour exploitation. Veja is the logical result of their journey.
The company’s founders hope that consumers will seek out the brand not just for reasons of ethical superiority. “Convincing the customers who are already convinced with fair trade principles is not our priority,” says Sébastien. “We want Veja trainers to be next to other sneakers brands in stores where consumers ordinarily shop. The primary goal is that consumers buy the trainers because they like them. Ethical aspects shouldn’t be the only reason to explain a purchase especially when it is about trainers.”
Put that way, it sounds almost misleading. However, after seeing the Veja trainers, (available at Ideology in the Forum), it’s perfectly understandable to want to buy them on an aesthetic basis alone. There’s much more to the Veja project than meets the eye, though. It stems from three main principles: using ecological inputs, using fair-trade cotton & latex, and respect for their workers, thus achieving the holy grail of being environmentally friendly, Fairtrade and ethically-sound.
Veja employ a plethora of different tactics to ensure they are as kind to the environment and their producers as possible. They are serious about reducing carbon dioxide emission; transportation of the footwear is via boat and all packaging is recycled. They even use ‘green’ electricity. Their products proudly display the Fairtrade logo, and 97% of their cotton producers are certified organic farmers (with the remaining 3% being in the process of becoming so).
Several clothing companies in the UK have been embroiled in media stories about the shocking treatment of their manufacturers. Purse-friendly Primark is one such infamous suspect, and despite the addition of an ‘Ethical Trading’ section to their website, the company has been plagued in recent years by reports of sweatshop conditions of their factories and employees receiving just 5p an hour for an 80 hour week. In enviable contrast, Veja’s factory workers in Brazil are paid, on average, 30 Euros more a month than the minimum wage in Brazil for this line of work, and benefit from decent working conditions, access to transport to and from their workplace, the opportunity to join a Union and a fair amount of holidays.
Organic farming and fair-trade is also making a noticeable difference; the number of families who are part of Veja’s organic cotton co-operatives grew from 200 in 2005 to 320 at present. The increasing popularity, according to Beth Casey, Veja’s press contact, is “due to the beneficial results and higher standard of living” to be found in being a member of a co-operative.
Lee Chapman, sales assistant at Ideology, is clearly an advocate of the Veja project, telling me “now you can have ecological clothing that appeals to a mainstream audience.” He believes the trainers have done well commercially because “the aesthetic is very strong”. “What you’re seeing are people buying into quality”, Chapman says. “With that comes a better understanding of Fairtrade.”
Despite their seemingly clean credentials, Veja acknowledges that they’re not perfect. The ‘limitations’ section of their website explains that their trainers are not yet recycled and the use of a pesticide to protect their harvest goes against their organic values. Rather than being disheartened by this though, the Veja feels it actually has the opposite effect. “It motivates us to find new ways of doing things as we want to fill the gap. It is not enough to show only the good work you do, you must also highlight the areas for improvement and growth. Once limitations are recognised they can be amended, improved and hopefully eliminated or replaced with more environmentally friendly practices.”
Fairtrade or not, the ultimate question is ‘can an outfit really change the world?’ Perhaps not, but a pair of trainers which try certainly seems like a fashion statement worth making.