‘Fair Trade’ Labeling Extends Beyond Coffee and Chocolate and Into the World of Fashion
by Andria Cheng, MarketWatch
Originally published on Marketwatch
Fair Trade coffee and chocolate have become commonplace. Get ready for Fair Trade fashion.
Two years after the collapse of a Bangladesh garment factory called Rana Plaza killed more than 1,100 and put a spotlight on fashion-industry working conditions, Fair Trade apparel is gaining ground. That incident also inspired a documentary that aims to foment change in the fashion industry, in much the same way the food industry was disrupted when documentaries including “Food Inc.” helped fuel rising demand for organic alternatives.
The volume of Fair Trade Certified — the phrase is trademarked — apparel and home goods has grown rapidly in the past two years and jumped almost fivefold in 2014 alone, according to the nonprofit certification group Fair Trade USA, which in 2012 introduced more than 334 compliance criteria for textile factories. Globally, that growth could be even more dramatic, as other groups have set their own certification standards.
Continue on to full article on MarketWatch.com
