Fairtrade Fortnight

Top eco friendly brands featuring in the fairtrade fortnight

MATA TRADERS

Mata Traders’ clothing and accessories are handmade using artistic traditions such as block-printing and embroidery - no factory production here. Combine that with flattering design and a flair for colour, and you've got the Mata look. The collection is a playful, trendy and flattering fusion of colour and print. Mata Traders’ signature jewellery is dreamy and ethnic and simply the epiphany of boho chic.
 
But that's just half the story - this is fashion with impact. For Mata Traders’ producers, it's an opportunity to make a better life for their families. Choosing fair trade means you as a consumer are helping fight global poverty. Not only that; providing income to women at poverty level is a way to combat the problem of child labor at its roots.  The change can be seen not only in the life of the woman employed by the co-op, but especially in the next generation, and the children the woman can afford to educate. Moreover, the producers are paid a livable wage in safe and fair conditions, and do their work at home and in small workshops rather than factories.  Mata Traders are proud to be a part of these women’s voice by bringing you their quality handiwork in a high fashion, fairly traded product line.


NKUKU

Nkuku is socially responsible and built on the principles of fair trade and equal opportunity. The homeware and accessories brand aims to promote the astounding skills of artisans, bringing their work to the UK market through wholesale and retail channels, whilst promoting fair trade and equal opportunity. Nkuku is a member of two leading fair trade organisations, WFTO World Fair Trade Organisation and BAFTS British Association of Fair TradeShops. From rustic furniture to handpainted enamel kitchenware, the brand offers a wide range of home accessories that are sure to add some fair trade flavour to your home. Fans of the shabby chic aesthetic will most definitely fall in love with Nkuku. 

The idea of Nkuku came from a year out from working life, the founders travelling mainly through Africa and India. They wanted to find a way to promote and develop the traditional skills of artisans, whilst building a sustainable business, and in the process improve the challenging living standards and restricted opportunities that many artisans endure. The name 'Nkuku’ was borrowed from a village in Zambia where they saw it whitewashed on a hut and the business plan was jotted down in the back of a paper back.


KOMODO
 
Back in the pioneering days for ethical fashion in 1988, the Komodo label was born to the vibrant new soundtrack of house music, with a philosophy of fair trade for the people involved in the production and awareness of their environmental impact. To Komodo, it just seemed like the right way to work. Today, Komodo sits alongside the world’s most acknowledged ethical brands, and we understand why. The brand offers a complete wardrobe for men and women, and combines gorgeous on-trend prints with timeless silhouettes. Vibrant colours and intricate handmade detailing are other trademarks of the fair trade brand.
 
In addition to its impressive fair trade credentials, there is a significant effort made in ensuring the clothing is made to environmentally friendly standards. Komodo is a fashion lifestyle brand first that does their best to be as ethical as they can in the process, rather than eco-warriors trying to make fashion. Some of the sustainable fabrics the brand uses in its production include GOTS-certified organic cotton, natural hemp fibre, rayon (sustainable tree cellulose), plant protein fibre soya and award-winning eco fibre tencel.


FOLK LIKE US
 
The ultimate fair trade brand for summer style, Folk Like Us aims to offer women of all ages gorgeous and breezy summer staples. Having identified a lack in the market for fair trade summer wear in strong colurs, the brand combines timeless silhouettes with bang on trend colours and hues. There’s also a strong focus on lightweight cottons and floaty silhouettes, making Folk Like Us the ultimate holiday brand.

Folk Like Us styles are designed by a small team in London and are produced in fair trade cooperatives in Nepal. For the London-based brand, the focus has always been on improving workers’ rights, supporting Nepal’s fair trade industry and the skillsets found there while at the same time creating beautiful garments and accessories. The factories involved in the production are official members of the WFTO and Fair Trade Nepal Group.


FAIR+TRUE

FAIR+true are a young and up and coming, hip, eco and fair trade label based in London. FAIR+true items are made in the UK, Kenya and Malawi under fair trade schemes and supporting communities. Some of their designs are also made from organic or sustainable materials such as soy, bamboo, tencel or organic cotton. The FAIR+true aesthetic is an explosion of colour, ethnic patterns and bold African prints in modern silhouettes, complemented by some gorgeous organic cotton basics.
 
According to the creative minds behind FAIR+true, one of the most fulfilling aspects of working with fair trade, is seeing the empowerment of women in otherwise poor environments. The Malawi factory unit uses small-scale production methods and the women there thrive in this atmosphere. The brand’s spring summer collection for 2013 also sees hand printed African batik fabrics, which the team behind FAIR+true is really excited about, supporting the traditional skills of the Nepal clothing heritage.