Pachacuti - Panama Hats and Fair Trade Clothing

Pachacuti has just been awarded the Best Performance in Sustainable Luxury in Latin America in the Fashion & Accessories category by Lujo Sostentable.

But is Sustainable Luxury an oxymoron with regard to fashion?  Doesn't the term luxury fashion carries connotations of all of the excesses of the fashion industry?

Speaking at the International Herald Tribune’s conference in 2009, PPR chairman Francois-Henri Pinault remarked, “today, more than ever, people want a return to genuine values, such as timelessness, sincerity and exemplary standards. These are all qualities which are inherent in sustainable luxury.”

Luxury fashion begins to look more inherently sustainable when compared to the disposability of fast fashion at the other end of the price scale where shops are filled with rapidly-changing clothing which the consumer can afford to wear only a few times before moving onto the next new style.  Luxury fashion, on the other hand, frequently exhibits a more timeless appeal and will undoubtedly remain in the purchasers wardrobe for longer than its fast fashion equivalent.

A report for the WWF by Jem Bendell and Anthony Kleanthous entitled Deeper Luxury: quality and style when the world matters examined the social and environmental performance of the luxury goods sector.

They identified consumers within this sector as those who had both the means and the motivation to make purchases which respected both people and planet.  The report called upon the luxury industry to "bring to life a new definition of luxury, with deeper values expressed through social and environmental excellence. Their performance and progress on environmental, social and governance issues should be comprehensively measured and reported."

At Pachacuti, we believe that authentic luxury incorporates both social and environmental responsibility without compromising on style.  Pachacuti is unfortunately still something of a rarity: a company which adheres to the highest Fair Trade and environmental standards and yet is sold in some of the most luxurious stores around the world.

Becoming the 1st company in the world to be Fair Trade Certified by the WFTO demonstrates out commitment to both quality and ethical principles. As the Deeper Luxury Report recommends, our performance and progress is measured through a series of social and environmental indicators and reported in our annual Fair Trade & Sustainability Report.

Pachacuti is recognised as a pioneer in ethical fashion, practising Fair Trade since 1992. As the world changes around us, we will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible within the fashion supply chain, providing a role model to challenge compromise and mediocrity.  Our classic style ensures that our designs will not end up in the recycling bin for many years.

We are delighted with this award and will continue to lead the way in creating true luxury products which display integrity, traceability and sustainability in addition to our unswerving commitment to Fair Trade principles.

It has been a busy show season for Pachacuti with four shows to present our Spring/Summer 2012 Panama hat collection.  We started at Pure in August where we added some new countries to those where Pachacuti Panamas are already stocked, including Singapore.  Then off to a fantastic Première Classe in Paris in early September where we had a really great reaction to our range, particularly from a number of luxury Japanese retailers.  We are also delighted to be supplying the California-based Fred Segal, with stores in Hollywood and Santa Monica, from this Autumn.

Then back to the UK for Estethica at London Fashion Week.  The show got off to a great start for us with an order from Japan on the Thursday, before it even officially opened!   Again, we found a very high level of interest from Japanese customers and it was great to see the Japanese buyers back at London Fashion Week again as, in recent years, many buyers have favoured Paris Fashion Week over London.  Other new stockists for 2012 will include the fabulous Mezzo Mezzo boutique in Corfu Town.

After the success of our collection in Paris and London, we managed to obtain a last-minute stand at The Box as we felt that the new collection had such good momentum that we should show it to some more customers.  Very excited to now have a stockist in St Barths, French West Indies, as well as several new customers in France and more Japanese stores.

Although I wasn't able to go to Paris for the entire show, my 15 year old daughter Sienna and I headed off to Paris on Friday afternoon for the weekend.  As temperatures soared, we were happy to be showing at The Box in the beautiful Pavillon Cambon, rather than in the nearby Tuileries where the temperatures in the tents were unbearable.

Sienna and I walked various shows: Première Classe, Zip Zone, Atmosphère and caught up with some of our favourite ethical designers such as Ada Zanditon, Beautiful Soul and, our neighbours from London Fashion Week, Lost Property London.  All were having a good show which was very encouraging to hear.

As we were staying with friends in St. Ouen, whereas to visit on a Sunday morning in Paris than the famous Marché Puces de St Ouen flea market which, incredibly after so many weeks spent staying in the area over the years, I had never visited on a Sunday.  Had I known that the flea market also contained vintage clothing shops, I may have visited a little sooner!  For those who aren't acquainted with the St. Ouen flea market, the name is probably a little misleading as the area has very little of the bric-a-brac normally associated with this type of market.  Instead, you can admire the most incredible antique shops specialising in different époques and merchandise: a shop filled with copper pans (my husband's favourite); lighting from huge glass chandeliers to anglepoise lamps of every shape and size; art deco furniture; antique maps and, our favourite of course, clothing.

This was vintage clothing of the ilk that is very rarely seen in vintage shops, certainly not in the many vintage stores in London which I trawl regularly for '50s dresses.  These flea market stores were specialising in the highest designer fashions and there was something incongruous but quite refreshing about seeing names like Alexander McQueen, Galliano, Dior, Vera Wang, written on scraps of paper in black marker pen and affixed to the garments, bags, shoes and jewellery on display.  

Oh how we wished to be the American women in those stores, accompanied by their husbands who we suspected would not blink at the prices and their wives would emerge with a vintage prize.  Unfortunately for us, we were on a budget, and a tight one at that.  Sienna was hunting for a vintage dress to wear to her prom next year and fell completely in love with a fabulous, floor-length, figure-hugging beaded Versace haute couture gown.  Undoubtedly a snip at 2000Euros, it certainly wasn't coming home with us.  She still sighs in a longing manner whenever I mention the flea market and I suspect that I am bringing her up to have expensive tastes.  She was hunting in Waitrose for foie gras this afternoon for goodness sake!

And so I return, sad to leave Paris but very excited at what the year ahead holds for Pachacuti.  This year has been a difficult one for most ethical clothing brands and I was concerned at what next year would hold, particularly given the poor weather we have experienced which I think has affected our sales more than the recession.  However, they always say that in a recession you should concentrate on building your exports and, with over 90% of orders from these trade shows coming from new overseas customers, that seems to be exactly what we are doing.  Now if only I could find an excuse to personally visit them all...

Timeless style is the key to Pachacuti’s collections this year: designs which look good not just from season to season, but from decade to decade. Styles with longevity made from quality fabrics, wool felt and alpaca, which contribute to a more sustainable design aesthetic.

Pachacuti’s inspiration for our Autumn/Winter 2011 Felt Hat collection is drawn from the classic hat style of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Many people associate South American traditional dress with the bowler hat, worn by women throughout the Andes.  However, with the wearing of felt hats in decline amongst indigenous communities as they rapidly adopt western dress, many hatters are shutting up shop. 

In the village where we work there used to be twenty workshops when I first visited in the early '90s and now only a few remain.

Pachacuti is developing new styles of felt hats in order to give the artisans an outlet for their traditional skills and preserve this important aspect of Andean textile heritage.  Our felt hat orders represent an important source of income for this small family workshop and, as our orders grow every year, we hope that they may soon start to expand as a result of increased production.  This season you can also find a selection of Pachacuti Panama hats on Net-à-Porter

Pachacuti’s inspiration for our Autumn/Winter 2011 alpaca collection comes from quirky and curious finds from heirloom knitting patterns.

Our autumnal colour palette is taken from scrumping for apples and damsons in neighbours’ gardens.

Alpaca is a true luxury and sustainable fibre. This hooded shawl is made from the softest, most luxurious baby alpaca yarn. This incredible fibre naturally repels the odours and stains of city life, meaning that alpaca garments need very little washing which further adds to their eco-credentials.

Alpaca is one of the most sustainable fibres available: the animals graze freely high in the Andes and cause barely any damage to native vegetation. Moreover, the fibre doesn’t bobble or pill and stays looking good for an estimated 10 years.

Pachacuti is the first company in the world to be Fair Trade Certified by the World Fair Trade Organisation, a guarantee of the highest social and environmental standards throughout the supply chain.

Pachacuti has always worked in some the most remote rural areas of the Andes and one of our principal aims is to create sustainable rural livelihoods for our producers.

I am in Ecuador for a few weeks, the main purpose of my trip being to explain to our Panama hat producers all of the intricate details entailed in the production of our 2012 collection.  It is our most ambitious to date, but our weavers love working on new patterns and we have already discovered that they weave our coloured panama hats faster than the equivalent hat in a natural colour!

My first few days were based in Otavalo, from where I could travel out to the villages to see our embroiderers, tailors and felt hat makers.  I had come prepared to work on embroidery designs as I had learnt two months ago when visiting our embroidery group that high cotton prices meant that most buyers were either taking their designs to cheaper countries, or converting to machine embroidery.

Our embroidery group, who are based about an hour north of Otavalo on a remote mountainside, had been the first of our producer groups to receive glasses and cataract operations two years ago and I was keen to hear how they were progressing.  However,  Mathilda who co-ordinates all of our embroidery, told me about her latest visits to see the group. "Every time I visit" she explained "the embroiderers ask if there are any orders from Pachacuti due to the higher Fair Trade prices paid.  If there are no orders, they would rather earn money picking tree tomatoes as the market price for their skills is so low". Realising what a huge responsibility this creates for Pachacuti, I returned to my hotel and spent the entire weekend working on embroidery designs for a dress and a blouse in black cotton, so that at least we can place orders to sell in our shop over the Autumn period. 

Ecuadorian cotton wears and washes so well and we get a lot of repeat customers in our shop, yet the embroidered blouses are often more of an afterthought for me after designing our hats, so I left the area with new resolve to create more embroidery designs each year so that these traditional skills do not die out. 

My designs are usually based on traditional Ecuadorian embroideries, updated with different elements; I may include the odd motif from Mexican embroidery, or take some influence from '50s design.  Mathilda will carefully copy out my designs onto the sleeves and yolks of garments and take these to the embroiderers, collect them a week later and sew them into the garments. 

I think the photograph below shows exactly what we are trying to do at Pachacuti: Mathilda sitting at her sewing machine with her field of maize and vegetables outside the window.  The family are almost self-sufficient from their land, only purchasing essentials such as flour and rice from the local shop.

As traditional dress continues to westernise and buyers seek cheaper alternatives, these skills could be lost within a generation or two.  The region's boom days of the early '90s when everyone was exporting Ecuadorian wool jumpers, coincided with the men in the area converting to jeans and trainers instead of white trousers and alpargatas and ditching their traditional felt hat, keeping only their long plait as a symbol of indigenous identity.  Will women's dress follow this same fate?  At present almost all indigenous women in the area continue to wear traditional dress, which includes highly embroidered blouses.  Although not a pre-colonial textile art in the Andes, embroidery has been practiced in this region since it was imported by the Spanish in the 16th Century and was rapidly incorporated into traditional dress.

I'd always felt that we were playing our small part in preserving the traditional textile heritage of the Andes, but hearing that the embroiderers would rather earn money picking tree tomatoes than embroidering, unless that embroidery happened to come from Pachacuti, makes me realise what an incredible responsibility I have to the people and culture of this region.