Commitments

 

Each time someone buys a Fair Trade garment, they are helping to change the world for the better. This is the belief of Paris Ethos founder Ann Leroux who insists that when fashion is done right, everyone profits: consumers, farmers, workers, manufacturers, transporters as well as the creative and distribution teams. 

 

Giving everyone a fair shake was hardly conventional wisdom when Ethos was founded. The idea of creating a company to market stylish organic garments based on Fair Trade practices was a very odd approach to the fashion industry. Fair Trade was still emerging as a business model and organic fabrics were limited to specialist lines. Combining the two to form the base of a viable fashion enterprise was nothing short of revolutionary. Fair Trade went against the logic of market-based capitalism, of buying low and selling high. But Ann was determined to do it right and by listening to her higher voice, she created a thriving fashion house of high-quality garments, one that benefits everyone, every step of the way.

 

 

“For Ethos Fair Trade is neither charity nor assistance; it is a respectful interchange between the producer, ourselves and the consumer,” says Ann. “The producer receives fair prices for his products, allowing him to provide for his family with dignity, and the consumer gets fashionable, quality products while contributing to sustainable development.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was not easy to compete in the highly competitive fashion industry but Ann Leroux discovered that doing business with integrity ultimately paid off. There was a market for organic Fair Trade fashion and consumers did care about the provenance of the products they purchased. Indeed, fashion proved an effective vehicle for transmitting social and environmental messages. By creating high-quality street fashion at a reasonable price, Ethos could reach out and connect with the general public.

 

Ethos has remained true to its founding principles: to create products that embody respect for humankind, for the environment and the demands of fashion. This vision of ethical fashion is a practical and sustainable response to the destructive force of the global fashion industry. It is embodied in the Ethos Charter that was drawn up in 2003.

 

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Purchase products at a price that enables producers to live decently from their natural resources.

 

Buy and sell products in the most direct manner possible to maximize profit margins for producers.

 

Establish sustainable business relationships with partners; place priority on working with marginalized groups or with partners that provide employment to marginalized people while establishing enduring relationships based on trust.

 

Under the banner of “Producing without harm”, use 100% organic raw materials, free of chemicals such as pesticides, and choose manufacturing systems that respect the environment and the health of its inhabitants.

 

Create fashionable garments of competitive high quality using Fair Trade practices and organic materials.

 

Preserve and utilize traditional skills and know-how that are disappearing around the world.

 

Communicate all information concerning products and their manufacture to distributors and consumers.

 

 

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To work in close partnership with our producers through activities that improve the quality of life of local populations.

 

To imbue each step of the production process with respect:

·         Respect for workers (fair conditions at all stages of production).

·         Respect for the environment (no pesticides or toxic chemicals).

·         Respect for the consumer (business transparency and product quality).

 

To employ every method to reduce the ecological impact of our activities while educating the public on the destructive impact of the global fashion industry.

 

To be the best at what we do by developing products based on the promotion of human rights and the protection of the environment.

 

To offer the best quality in terms of products, service, originality, social contribution and recompense for our collaborators.

 

 

·         Put an end to the clothing industry’s exploitive sweat shops by establishing genuine partnerships with producers and uniting forces to bring about positive economic and social change.

·         Instead of simple humanitarian aid, we seek to create employment and economic success through viable business activities and equitable trade practices. We assist our partners to achieve sustainable businesses and autonomy through establishing management structures and providing training, and by making key investments in such areas as appropriate technology.

·         To create employment at home and offer careers in ethical fashion.

·         To reinvest a portion of profits back into the local communities to contribute to development through such avenues as organic cotton cultivation, training centers and schools.

·         To gain recognition as a pioneer of the Fair Trade and organic movement and prove to the public that fashion can be ethical, profitable, sustainable and professional.

·         To reduce the destructive impact of the global fashion industry on the environment by engaging in such actions as trash recycling, using recyclable or environmentally friendly packaging and by choosing sea over air transportation for our products. 

 

 

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In its most basic form, Fair Trade means that the people who produce merchandise are paid a living wage and have access to decent working conditions; that women are paid equal salaries to men; and, of course, that no children are employed. 

 

Fair Trade practices benefit farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth. Fair Trade is an equitable model of trade, one that enables sustainable development and empowers marginalized communities.

 

Ethos implements a market-based approach to ending poverty as an alternative to dependency on aid. We believe that producers should receive a fair price for their products and that workers deserve safe working conditions, a decent living wage and the right to organize. Through direct equitable trade, working households are able to eat better, keep their children in school, improve health and housing, and invest in the future.

 

Strong families, vibrant local economies, respect for the local environment, sustainable community development and hope for the future — these are the results we seek through Fair Trade. 

 

 

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Early on, Paris Ethos noticed that most of the initial Fair Trade companies dealing in textiles made a distinction between products of Fair Trade and those that issued from green initiatives (organic cotton and other ecological fibers). For Ethos, this wayof thinking seemed absurd. How could we call ourselves “fair” yet permit chemical companies to promote and sell toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers to peasant cotton farmers? Such cotton was entitled to the label of “Fair Trade” because of the higher price paid to producers, but the farmers and their families were ingesting poisonous substances, ruining their land and polluting their water supplies. 

 

It was the refusal to accept this inconsistency that led to our firm commitment to use only organic fibers in our garments.

When Ethos first tried to apply the Fair Trade business model, we encountered resistance. In developing countries, it was not easy to find garment suppliers willing to pay workers more than the bare minimum. Higher wages meant less profit, and for suppliers grounded in the western business practices of consumer capitalism (Free Trade), this did not make sense. 

 

The way Free Trade works is quite simple: buy cheap from producers and sell dear to consumers; enhance profit margins and shareholder values. As a business model, Free Trade has its virtues but fairness is not one of them. In today’s globalized economy, 80 percent of the world’s resources are consumed by the richest 20 percent of its population. Under the banner of Free Trade, resources and the products of labor are flowing at an ever-increasing rate from the developing world to the developed. What consumer capitalism does is make monarchs of northern consumers and wage slaves of southern producers. 

 

World trade has been following this direction since early European imperialism, gathering momentum as it passed through industrialization to arrive at the current corporate empires based on information and consumer capitalism. It is a system that is unlikely to change unless actively challenged. This is where Paris Ethos with its more equitable business model comes in. As pioneers of a new economic system, we believe that the key to change lies in the hands of the wealthy 20 percent of the world’s population. If we, as individuals, can collectively use our purchasing power like a ballot, we can bring about the necessary change and restore some sanity to world trade.