Here at Ethnic Supplies, ending poverty is about job creation in order that African women can achieve financial independence. To that end I promote and sell the work of women that produce fashion accessories , art and crafts. The products are all handmade from natural or recycled materials.
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I have recently found myself in deep thought as to how much the public understand about some of the terms that are used in the fashion industry and the impact of this on what I am trying to do here at Ethnic Supplies
This post is therefore my way of seeking feedback from the public on some of these terms. So over to you folk.
WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS AS APPLIED TO FASHION ACCESSORIES ?
- sustainable
- sustainability
- FairTrade
- fairly traded
- fair trade
- humane silk
- ethical
- ethically produced
- Eco
- Eco friendly
- handmade
- handcrafted
- fair wage
- organic
- green
- suitable for vegetarian
- environmentally friendly
- sweat shops
- value addition
I also wonder what influences your choice when shopping,
would the above terms influence your choice when shopping?
If so why?
Are you happy to pay a premium for a product with any of the above labels? If so why?
I will keep this short so that we can have a discussion.
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Hi Ida, I am reluctant to buy anything from a sweat shop
that influences my purchases there. All of the other terms are now mainstream and no longer influence my purchasing decisions.
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Hi Sarah, thanks for you feedback. Sweat shops are a definite no no for me too. In fact one of the reasons I ensure that I meet all Ethnic Supplies producers in their work environment
Ida here in Turkey awareness is beginning to grow,
the term ‘organic’ is well known in food industry.
These products tend to be more expensive.
I think I would pay more if I believed in what they say.
It feels they put the same product ina different package,
put an expensive value and call it organic.
Fashion industry! I am not very fashion aware. I will be
looking more carefully to feel the ground.
I also heard that certain businesses
are now legally required to worlk with environmental consultants.
I am just cautious to believe assertions about things like fair wage.
I find that market rules are not honest and would just plainly
lie to sell more. So I think I would pay more for trustworthy
brands if anything like that exists…
Thanks for bringing the subject to my attention.
Really interesting to hear about a point of view from Turkey Irem. When I first started out I was invited to address a delegation of International reps with special interest in women’s enterprises, one of them was from Turkey and she wanted me to come out and help with setting up a women’s co-op. I followed this up but I never heard from her!
The fair wage one is of interest to me as consumers we always want to pay the lowest price possible and naturally this affects the wages producers can be paid. So how door how can retailers ensure a fair wage to producers without upsetting their customers?
Like some of the previous posts, I think it is often easier to shop based on what your against rather than look for some of the long list of labels that you mention. I am against sweatshops so I will always look where something is made, If it is made in the West then I will be more confident to buy, if it is made in the rest of the world then I will research and look for signs such as fair trade accreditations. I associate this with union recognition in the work-place and payment of a fair wage.
The term environmentally friendly is interesting as surely any consumption does not help the environment, we can only select the products that do the least damage. In clothing I try and buy well made garments that I know I will wear a lot and will last a long time. This will help reduce my consumption.
I suppose it is my wanting to understand if folk understand all these labels that are put out there. For instance someone told me that to them sustainable means something they get a lot of use out of- but when I use to refer to products from Ethnic Supplies I mean that the raw materials were either recycled, from a source that would be considered rubbish until value was added to them such as grass or that the artisans would destroy the source of raw material if it didn’t provide an income for them such as the silk production programme in Madagascar or the bark cloth programme in Uganda.
Environmentally friendly- I would assume this to mean something that does not require special treatment to break it down if it came to the end of its useful life and I suppose this would mean any thing that is bio degradable