Moroccan “Ethical” Clothing?
Posted by: Felix in Design, Clothing, Women, Business, MoroccoI’d like someone to explain to me how they can possibly be charging £130 for a cotton trenchcoat. I’d also like to know what they’re paying the Moroccan women workers, though I suspect it’s a pittance.
“Word reaches Newconsumer.com of another reason to wait for the spring ethical clothing collections - Amana, a fresh new label promising ‘fabulous ethical fashion’.The debutant and its 11-strong ladies’ range is due to go on sale 1st March, smack in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight. Ethical credentials include the use of hemp mixes, organic cotton and the employment of women artisans in Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains, though the brand doesn’t boast the official Fairtrade Foundation stamp.
From the two garments I’ve seen photos of, the design ethos looks to be bold and clean with a few touches of flair - a £130 organic cotton trench-coat, for example, swirls round in a full circle skirt at the bottom. Other pieces in the collection include hemp-silk mix trousers and an organic cotton voile blouse, with prices ranging from £15 to £130.
Helen Wood and Erin Tabrar, the St Martins’ fashion grads behind Amana, say ‘our goal is to create fashionable, beautiful garments, which are ethical at every point of supply.’ Sounds like a good mission statement to me.
Amana’s site goes live March 1st.
- by Adam Vaughan at the New Consumer
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January 26th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Hiya Felix, Adam from Newconsumer.com here - if you want to find out how much they’re paying the workers, I reckon you should drop Amana an email, Erin there is very open and wants to be transparent about that what they’re doing.
January 26th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Adam, and great suggestion - I’ll do that! It’s refreshing that a company is willing to be that open.
January 28th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Hi Felix, I just wanted to address some of your concerns.
Unfortunately by its very nature “ethical” fashion does tend to be more expensive than high street fashion, but I think we need to see this as a good thing. Prices in the mainstream market are often low because cotton farmers and workers are paid so badly. Retailers can then afford to sell clothes for an unrealistic price. However I think this is very damaging for consumers perception of what clothes should really cost.
Firstly the price of the trench coat is so high because of the cost of the fabric. The organic cotton panama we use for this coat is very expensive and the coat uses 3.5 metres of it, however for this cost you get a certified organic fabric, dyed with azzo free dyes and a guarantee of the working conditions of the farmers. We have actually tried very hard to keep prices reasonable and they are much lower than some other “ethical” brands, not to mention most designer brands where you don’t get these guarantees. We do also have a number of cheaper items, starting at £14.
As for how much we pay our women we discus with them the intricacy and the time involved in each piece and pay them per piece on that basis. We make sure that they receive at least three times the minimum wage. We pay two thirds of this in advance. We have a close personal relationship with them and also provide training, help them source machinery to grow their business, and are committed to developing a long term relationship with them. As our business grows we hope to start profit sharing with them so that they have a personal investment in the product.
I hope this has answered some of you questions, please get in touch if you would like any more information.
Erin Tabrar – Managing Partner, Amana
erin@amana-collection.co.uk