During Fashion Revolution Week we are encouraged to ask the question #whomademyclothes? This gives the opportunity for brands to respond, sharing with their customers the makers behind their products, highlighting their transparency or lack of. One of the things we love doing at Just Trade is sharing the stories of our amazing producers and the skills they have.
PERU
Pictured above is one of our crochet groups in Peru. Many of the women we work with in Peru know how to crochet as it is common to learn either at school or from family members. By working with us the women are able to use the skills they already have to help support their family. Check out some of the fun crochet products they make here
ECUADOR
The artisans based in Sosote are some of the original people we began working with in Ecuador. Over the years they have developed many of our best selling products including; the badger by Darwin, the rabbit by Ronald and the elephant by Carlos. All of the artisans are incredibly talented and true masters in the skill of carving tagua.
INDIA
The women who make our jewellery in India started as a group of 7 and have developed in to an incredible team of 40. The initial team were trained back in 2010 and since then have been passing on their metal making knowledge and skills to new members. Above are some of the newer members who have joined the Flowering Desert team and help make our classic Hammered brass collection.
VIETNAM
Our artisans in Vietnam are a little different from the rest of the groups we work with as they specialise in textiles. A lot of our jewellery pieces are often made by one person from start to finish. Our textile products however can require a number of artisans with different skill sets for each stage of the production processes. These can include, embroidery, screen printing, dyeing, hand weaving, fabric cutting, sewing and of course the office team that keep it all ticking along!
FASHION REVOLUTION WEEK
Fashion revolution week marks the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza factory employed around 5,000 people who worked in the garment industry, manufacturing clothes for many of the big global fashion brands found on our high street. The collapse of the building led to the death of 1134 people and injured many more. Fashion Revolution is a global movement that works all year round raising awareness about the problems within the fashion industry and lobbying for change. Read more about what they do and how you can get involved throughout the rest of the year at their website.