Topshop refuses to validate new ‘fairtrade’ range

• Mar. 19 by Bianca Eglinton (0)

Topshop’s new range of fairtrade clothing as part of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is under criticism after evidence suggests that the conditions faced by those who make the clothes are less than fair.

Philip Green, owner of the Arcadia group, which incorporates Topshop/Topman, has refused to sign up to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which works in partership with a number of retailers to help improve the lives of workers worldwide.

His reluctance to join the initiative, falling behind competitiors such as River Island, Debenhams and ASOS.com, emphasises the fact that he makes use of swesatshop workers who are paid below the minimum wage, even on the clothes which have been awarded the Fairtrade mark.

What is fairtrade?

For an item of clothing to be given the Fairtrade mark the materials have to have been bought from farmers in the developing world at a fair price, meaning no lower than the market price.

The Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) certifies a product as Fairtrade based on the fact that a company has given a better deal to the producers involved.

However, it is what happens to the Fairtrade materials after they have been bought which is concerning as manufacturing a T-shirt in a sweatshop and calling it Fairtrade is a massive contradiction.

Professional critisism

Philip Green and the Arcadia group have had a lot of critisism from people and companies with ethical interests. Christopher Woods, from Birmingham-based Fairtrade company Revolver World, points out that the benefits of using materials from Fairtrade crops is lost when sweatshops are involved. He says

“The entire Fairtrade clothing sector has contracted over the past 12-18 months, with the double blow of increased costs and very large retailers buying entire crops of Fairtrade cotton from India, before moving it over to sweatshops in other countries for manufacture.

By doing so, they can bring the price of the finished clothing right down to around that of a regular cotton T-shirt.

This may be good for the customer, but it harms the efforts of Faritrade.”

Christopher also explains that paying a little bit extra for an item of clothing which is guaranteed to have been produced in an ethical way from start ot finish is worth the money;

‘A revolver World organic Fairtrade-certified T-shirt is not the same as a regular £3.50 T-shirt from Topman; our shirts are guaranteed to be manufactured under sweatshop-free conditions with employees earning a fair wage.

We think that because out shirts are made under fair working conditions, thay are of a higher overall quality as well.’

Preserving fairtrade

The way to look after the Fairtrade fashion industry is to be aware that you can’t always take the Fairtrade mark as a confirmation that an item of clothing is 100% ethical.

The way to be sure is to stick to the independent Fairtrade clothing manufacturers, such as Revolver World or check out the ETI members page for a list of ethical retailers you can trust.

As a Fairtrade city, it is important for the people of Birmingham to continue spreading the word of ‘the big swap’ now that the Fairtrade Fortnight is over, by supporting local causes and leading the way to a truely Fairtrade future.