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.

I arrived at the V&A with my husband & Pachacuti Marketing Manager, Mark Rogers, and Doraliz Aranda, Production Manager.  One of the first people I spotted, unmissable in her fuscia Pachacuti fedora, was Pamela Ravasio, Pachacuti's Press & Marketing Officer, who was independently up for an award for her blog Shirahime.

After champagne and socialising, the awards commenced.  The panel was composed of 32 judges who included actor Colin Firth, TV presenter Ben Fogle, Deborah Meaden from Dragon's Den and model Lily Cole.  I was delighted to hear Livia Firth, battling laryngitis, announce Greg Valerio as the winner of the Global Campaigner category.  Greg pioneered Fairtrade gold which was launched this year and worn by Livia Firth on the red carpet at the Oscars.  Read more on Livia's Vogue blog.

Other winners announced were Compassion in World Farming in the Campaigner category, with Bill Oddie accepting the award; the People's Supermarket, who were presented their award by Colin Firth; The Co-operative Group won the Ethical Business category and we were delighted when it was announced by Baroness Lola Young that Pamela had won the ethical blog award.  Before the awards started, Mark and I had been walking on the Pavegen paving slabs which turn the energy from footsteps into electricity and their win in the Big Idea category was extremely well-deserved.

Finally, it was time for the Fashion & Accessories category and T4 presenter Rick Edwards, together with Vogue fashion features editor Jessica Bumpus, took to the stage.  This is always one of the most hotly contested of all categories and we were up against strong competition: Veja with their ecological footwear made from sustainable Amazonian rubber and organic cotton and Christopher Raeburn, a designer who re-uses parachute silk and military fabrics in his collections.

Winning this award is such a fantastic accolade for Pachacuti's work in pioneering Fair Trade Fashion since 1992.  I am delighted that the eminent panel of judges appreciated the hard work which my wonderful team based in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and I have put into in continuing to push the standards higher in the field of ethical fashion.  Pachacuti became the first company in the world to be Fair Trade Certified by the WFTO and we are now piloting an EU project on Geotraceability: the Geo Fair Trade Project. I am delighted to receive this award in recognition of the hard work which my staff and I have put into creating a Fair Trade, sustainable supply chain for our Panama hats, clothing and accessories and the innumerable benefits which this has brought to our producers and their communities in the Andes.  I can't wait to visit our producer groups in Ecuador this week and tell them about this exciting award.

The final award of the night is the Lifetime Achievement Award, won previously by Sir David Attenborough and last year by Gordon Roddick, pictured with me left.  It was Anita who initially inspired me to set up Pachacuti after reading her autobiography and thinking that if she could revolutionise the beauty industry with no experience in that field, there was nothing to stop me from trying to do the same within the fashion industry. 

This year the Lifetime Achievement Award was won by scientist and originator of the Gaia hypothesis, James Lovelock.   His pioneering model is the foundation of climate science today.

I had a wonderful evening at the awards and later at the after party where we continued to drink champagne into the early hours, exchanging stories with the Observer Food Editor about our respective visits to El Bulli.

The Observer Awards recognise those companies who make ethical living more accessible and achievable and this year's award winners do exactly that, from ensuring you can buy an ethical gold wedding ring to delivering weekly veg boxes or campaigning against mega-dairies.  It is a real honour for Pachacuti to be an award winner this year alongside so many other incredible campaigners and ethical pioneers

Mr Cable said that capitalism must adapt its model to ensure a more prosperous, stable future. The hallmarks of responsible capitalism included taking the long-term view; strong leadership and good management; investing in staff and displaying ethical behaviour.  

He talked about the perils of short-termism and gave examples of companies who aligned their long term economic interests with those of their employees, including JCB in Rocester who are based just down the road from Pachacuti's Ashbourne shop and office.

In conclusion, Vince Cable came to examples of good ethical behaviour "While Derbyshire-based Pachacuti, which I'm told does a rather fetching line in Panama hats, is the first in the world to be certified against the Fair Trade Sustainable Management System, which guarantees living wages to everyone working in the supply chain."  Other examples of good ethics included Tata Consultancy, Thomson Reuters and Café Direct. 

In August 2010 Pachacuti was Highly Commended in the International category of the National Awards for Excellence for our impact on Millennium Development Goals.  However, many individuals, businesses and world leaders are not doing as much as they could to ensure that we achieve these targets within the next five years.  This is why the Fashion FT100 has been collecting signatures to urge world leaders to act now.  

Fair Trade is at a disadvantage, competing with conventional fashion companies on an uneven playing field. This is because conventional companies don’t pay close to the living wage or work to sustainable environmental standards. If we wait for policy to change, the MDG’s will never be achieved in time.

The petition called upon  world leaders at the MDG conference in New York to:
1.        Drop the duty on Fair Trade fashion imports
2.        Give Fair Trade fashion organisations financial and technical assistance
3.        Procure Fair Trade clothing and textile products for the Public Sector

Ben Ramsden from Pants to Poverty and creator of the record-breaking World's Biggest Pants which you can see in the photo, took approximately 2000 signed petitions to the UN MDG summit in New York.

At the end of next week I will be back in Ecuador, meeting with all of my producers and hearing at first hand the difference Fair Trade makes.   It is not just the payment of a fair wage which makes a difference, but regular work which fits in with their agricultural cycles, training, improved health and safety, better education for their children and sustainable environmental practices.  Fair Trade impacts on so many of the Millennium Development Goals and makes a tangible impact on poverty reduction.

The feature includes interviews with myself and Orlsola da Castro, co-founder of From Somewhere and curator of Estethica, the ethical section of London Fashion Week http://www.fromsomewhere.co.uk/ and Dr Kate Fletcher, author of a book which I can highly recommend on Sustainable Fashion and Textiles http://www.katefletcher.com/

You can read the whole article online here: http://www.greennatgeo.co.uk/

Pages 32 to 39

Hail Mary Queen of Shops: here are my top five tiny independent stores

Having reversed the fortunes of small fashion boutiques and charity shops, Mary Portas's new series on BBC2 that begins tonight focuses on the plight of the small independent shop -- the baker and the off licence and the deli. I hate shopping in supermarkets: they lure you in with free parking and cheap food, and you always end up spending  £400 on stuff you know will go off before you can eat it. Huge chains like Topshop merely make my head spin. As Mary says in the show tonight, unless we patronise small stores they will disappear from our high streets. Here is my top five ... do feel free to add your favourite local shops

1. Palette London, 21 Canonbury Lane, London N1(020 7288 7428).

This small boutique has the most wonderful collection of vintage fashion from Ossie Clark, Oscar de la Renta, Halston, Chanel et al. The 1970s Guccis is wonderful, as are the bags, shoes and jewellery. The owner is very knowledgeable. Keira Knightley is a fan

2. Pachacuti (above right) is at 19 Dig Street, Ashbourne in Derbyshire (01335 300 003). Don't let the fact it is fair trade and organic put you off: there is delicious knitwear from alpaca wool, Panama hats and a large range of children's wear. A friendly, family run shop in a beautiful part of the world

3. The Dulverton Delicatessen,  Somerset. This is my local food shop, and although I am not one for eating or cooking, this shop, run by the beautiful and knowledgable Emily, might well convert me. Local cheeses, juices, cakes, bread and vegetables, as well as the sort of unusual ingredients you expect only to find in London. Emily will order anything you fancy, from vegan cheese to eco friendly  firelighters

4. Atelier Abigail Ahern (below), 137 Upper Street, London N1 (0207 354 8181). This is an Aladdin's cave of good taste: finds from Paris flea pits, exquisite chandeliers made from porcelain by local artisans, lamps, candles, Rastafarian floor cushions

5. Mee, 9A Bartlett Street, Bath (01225 442250). Heidi Klein swimwear, trinkets for the home -- a bestseller is a king size velvet throw for £195 --  silk jersey draped dresses by New York designer Yoana Baraschi, a red carpet range of dresses by David Meister. What is different about this lovely little boutique -- Vanessa Paradis is a fan -- is that the sales assistants offer a really personal service, and will spend a lot of time making sure you choose exactly the right outfit 

As part of Pachacuti's Fair Trade Certification, every year, together with each producer group, Pachacuti creates an annual action plan that allows producers to direct how Fair Trade will benefit them the most. In 2008 one embroidery group all complained of poor eyesight. In Spring 2009, we paid for eye tests, glasses and eye operations for the 20 workers who required them, totalling $800.

After the success of this project, Pachacuti approached  our co-operative of women Panama hat weavers based in Ecuador and enquired if the 300+ weavers might need glasses. The answer was a resounding YES. 

The women live in a poor, rural region of Southern Ecuador and rely on the weaving of hats as their primary source of income. This traditional skill is demanding work and requires good eyesight to produce quality hats.  To remedy this situation Pachacuti and the Co-operative decided to make the purchasing of glasses for the weavers their primary goal for their 2010 Fair Trade Action Plan.

Pachacuti arranged for eye exams to be given to the weavers and it was determined just over 200 of the women required glasses, with 65 weavers being prioritised as needing glasses urgently. This was beyond the financial means of Pachacuti and the co-operative to purchase.  It was with the help of a group of Ashbourne residents that the Sunglasses for Glasses concept was born as a means to achieve the funding for this project. It is our hope that, through the involvement of area school children, we can together raise the money needed for the purchase of the glasses whilst providing an opportunity for the children to learn about global issues and empathy for others.

Sunglasses for Glasses day last week raised enough money for over 30 pairs of glasses, so we are well on our way to our target!  A huge thank you to the schools and children who took part and  I'm looking forward to posting some photographs of our weavers with their new glasses!

It was a truly inspiring evening for myself and my staff.  After champagne and canapes, Mandy Yound of Adrenaline Alley in Corby took to the stage.  She told of how she set up the extreme sports park in response to an attack on her son when he was carrying his skateboard.  What started as a small skatepark has turned into the biggest extreme sports centre in the world outside of the US - all run as a Social Enterprise.

After Dinner and the presentation of the Community Impact Awards, Michelle Feeney, CEO of St Tropez, talked about Mac cosmetics.  Michelle used to work for Estee Lauder and, when the company bought Mac, she became their head of Global Communications.  I had no idea at all that all profits from Mac Viva Glam go to the Mac Aids Fund.  It sounds like a truly impressive company and convinced me to linger a little longer next time I pass a Mac Cosmetics counter!

Finally it was time for our Award, the last category award of the night.  Our video looked fantastic on the big screen, showcasing our work on the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System through video and photography with an actor's voiceover. 

We were certainly the smallest of all of the companies receiving awards last night, with other winners including Rolls Royce, Experian, Northern Foods and East Midlands Airport.  However, I think it is so important to show that a small, East Midlands company can not only have a huge impact locally (and we do work closely with our local schools and community) but can have a significant impact Internationally.  I think that the important element of our work on the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System is not just the impact on our 1000 or so producers, but the real development potential which the system offers to small organisations and companies throughout the world as a means of addressing Millenium Development Goals.

We were delighted to receive our Big Tick Award and are excited about the forthcoming National Awards for Excellence on 5 July.

Moreover, we have been shortlisted as an Example of Excellence in the International category for our work towards Millenium Development Goals and helping to create a replicable model for international development through the SFTMS.   The overall Example of Excellence in the International Category will be presented by Prince Charles on 5th July.  Pachacuti is running alongside Barclays Bank, Thomson Reuter and Cisco Systems for this coveted award.

The Awards for Excellence reward businesses who demonstrate the positive impact they have had on society and also the business benefits created by ensuring that being responsible is integral to their business model.

We are delighted that our Panama hats which are woven for Pachacuti by weavers in remote areas of the Ecuadorian highlands are now for sale at a Pop-Up shop in Liberty.  These women have very few opportunities open to them: many are single mothers or wives of alcoholic husbands and they are reliant on income from agriculture and hat weaving.  Many are forced to migrate to cities in search of low paid domestic work, leaving behind their culture and their community.

I believe that this is fantastic example of how opportunities can be created for marginalised producers if they are better organised, resourced and supported through the work of Fair Trade.  Pachacuti's producer groups are now able to secure access to one of the most prestigious stores in London under fair trade conditions, providing them with a decent and dignified livelihood.