Spring/Summer Collection out!
People Tree's catalogue is finally out! Producing all the products by hand in villages and marginalised communities around the world, at the same time as producing the People Tree catalogue takes precision co-ordination.
People often ask what is the hardest thing in running a Fair Trade fashion company and I'd have to say that it's ensuring the products are made in time for the launch of the catalogue. And cashflow — we pay producers 50% in advance on placing our order for products - often 8 months before we sell them! Of course the work doesn't stop there — we're constantly in touch with the producers, working alongside them to help give technical advice and ensure that environmental standards are met too.
But why pay producers in advance? The producers we work with are small groups and organisations and have difficulty getting a loan to buy the materials and working capital. If a loan is available the interest rate is often double what we would pay in Britain and can be as high as 40%. This means that even prompt payment from buyers in the Developed World can often make the difference of whether an individual producer gets paid promptly or not. That's why we often say in the Fair Trade movement that it's not only the price paid to the producer for the product but also the 'terms of trade' that make the difference to help build people sustainable livelihoods and strengthen small businesses and social projects in the villages.
When I am travelling in Bangladesh I often meet garment factory workers to find out how conventional fashion works. I meet people who have not been paid their wages on time and have three months overtime outstanding to them — and people who have been dismissed on the spot for asking for what is due to them. Unfair terms of trade, low prices and lack of buyer interest in basic human rights and safety standards are the background to the horrific fire in the cotton mill in Chittangong in Bangladesh that broke out last week in the middle of the night, trapping and killing an estimated 60 people, because the gates were locked.
For People Tree the advance payments are a central part of the Fair Trade relationship with producers, paying a fair price and commiting to a long term relationship.
So please do buy from the catalogue the moment it's out, as we're really rather tight on cash right now. Why? Well if you really want to know People Tree has paid 50% advances on Autumn/Winter '06 orders, and in June we'll be paying final balances on the earliest among them, and at the same time we'll be putting advance payments down on orders for next spring! Sorry if I'm making you feel dizzy — but running a Fair Trade fashion business is dizzy-making! (But you do get used to it).