Pachacuti - Panama Hats and Fair Trade Clothing

Vogue is undoubtedly to be congratulated on devoting several pages to ethical fashion in their April issue as very few fashion magazines are prepared to devote six entire pages to ethical issues.  Likewise, Alexa Chung's commitment to ethical fashion is not to be doubted.

However, it is extremely unfortunate that there were several errors within the feature which I feel it is important to highlight as they will be misleading to anyone without a prior knowledge of ethical fashion.

The first glaring error I came upon was the amount of clothing sent to landfill a year.  2 tons?  As one person replied to my tweet about this error, I bet that's just what their staff throw out!  According to a BBC feature in 2009 the actual figure was closer to 2 million tons of clothing being discarded every year  Only around 16% of used clothing is reused or recycled. 

Just think, if everyone recycled their clothing and took good quality garments to charity shops, more of you may find bargains like the £10 pair of silk Valentino trousers I picked  when I ran into the Cancer Research shop in Ashbourne looking for a lightweight pair of trousers for the Ecuadorian Amazon later this week! 

Seriously though, we have to reduce cotton production as, in addition to the well-publicised health effects of the pesticides used, wider issues include the diminishing Aral Sea which is being drained for cotton irrigation and the overgrazing of grasslands for cashmere goats in China.  See the Traid website for further information.

The second error was in the definition of Fair Trade, a concept given very little space in the feature.   This is possibly due to the difficulty of carrying out Fair Trade within the fashion industry.  Pachacuti was the only Fair Trade company showing at  the Estethica exhibition in London Fashion Week this year.

Although I am sure that the confusion of Fairtrade and Fair Trade is common, I would have expected a well-researched Vogue article to have some basic idea of the concept of Fair Trade two words, as opposed to Fairtrade one word.

Fairtrade is only applicable to commodities, which in the fashion industry means cotton.  The Fairtrade label is a guarantee that the production of the raw material has met the standards established by FLO, the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, guaranteeing a price which covers the cost of production and a premium to invest back into their business or community.  The Fairtrade mark only applies to the particular product on which the label is displayed.

The accepted definition of Fair Trade is as follows:
“Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seek greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair Trade Organisations, backed by  consumers, are engaged actively  in supporting producers,  awareness  raising  and  in campaigning  for  changes  in  the  rules  and practice  of conventional international trade.” 

Many people believe that Fair Trade is just about a fair price, but Fair Trade goes much further than this as there are 9 principles other than the fair price. Fair Trade companies such as People Tree and Pachacuti follow the Charter of Fair Trade Principles. 

1 Creating Opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers
2 Transparency and Accountability
3  Fair Trading Practices & the protection and promotion of Cultural Identity
4 Fair Price
5  Ensuring no Child Labor and Forced Labor
6 Commitment to Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association
7 Ensuring Good Working Conditions
8 Providing Capacity Building
9 Promoting Fair Trade
10 Respect for the Environment

Pachacuti was 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.  

I think that part of my frustration stems from the fact that Fair Trade is not easy and we all work so hard to, for instance, provide training to producers or improve environmental standards, and yet Fair Trade is still only seen as being about a fair price. 

In order to obtain our Fair Trade certification, I spent at least 20 hours a week for 6 months working towards the certification, carrying out assessments of each producer group (analysing supply chains, eco-mapping premises, interviewing workers, mapping raw materials to ensure local supply chains) and creating an annual action plan for each group.  I am currently in Ecuador carrying out the next round of assessments for our upcoming audit.

In the case of the Vogue article, it only saw the fair price in terms of the cotton farmer and did not recognise that Fair Trade (two words) should give rise to a much broader definition of Fair Trade which applies to the entire fashion supply chain, including every aspect of the construction of the garment or accessory, not just the raw material.

At Pachacuti, our Fair Trade certification means we don't just look down the supply chain but we also look at how the Fair Trade principles affect our work in the UK, which has led us to convert all of our electric and gas in our studio and shop to Ecotricity, for example, and we calculate the CO2 for all of our travel and freight each year.

Alexa Chung and Vogue are to be commended for the inclusion of the ethical special in the April issue and I hope that it will help to make readers think more about the production and disposal of their garments. It is just such a shame that the research wasn't carried out a little more thoroughly!  Still, there is always next year's ethical special...

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...

Thursday night saw me heading to the Victoria & Albert Museum for the 'Green Oscars', the Observer Ethical Awards, but first I had to visit Amin Phillips of Love & Be Loved who had created the most stunning green silk dress for me to wear. 

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

Pachacuti has just returned from showing our AW11 felt hats, alpaca clothing & accessories at both London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.  

I have developed our felt hat collection further than in previous years, knowing the limitations of our Fair Trade producers, yet also conscious of the fact that all of our producers say that they love making new designs. It is therefore a delicate balancing act between extending their skills and capacity just a little bit further, yet still producing an item of a consistent quality.   The more complicated the design, the harder it is to convey all of the specifications in an entirely visual way to the producers as many of them are illiterate.

A new addition to our collection was our range of Carry On bags: made from recycled plastic bags.  Of course, our bags are not just recycled but are also Fair Trade, made by the Women's Hope collective in Colombia.  More about this exciting new collection to follow in the next post.

I always enjoy being part of Estethica at London Fashion Week, alongside other pioneers of ethical fashion such as From Somewhere and Junky Styling and newcomers who bring fresh perspectives and innovative materials, such as Jacob James STINGplus caps made from a blend of nettles and wool.

Surprisingly, the only Fair Trade representation at Estethica this season was the Fairtrade Foundation, showing their new collection of Fairtrade cotton scarves designed by the Fairtrade Collective and on sale at ASOS, and Pachacuti.

On the first day I was visited by Livia Firth who is such a fantastic and tireless eco-advocate.  She managed to squeeze in an afternoon at Estethica to visit all of her favourite ethical brands before flying off to the Oscars where The Kings Speech won Best Picture and Colin won a well-deserved Best Actor.

On Saturday, Estethica hosted the brunch which, as usual, boasted a few trays of canapés and copious amounts of champagne!