The Possibilities of Fair Trade: Towards a
Taxonomy of Fairly Traded Clothing
Organisations
Paper presented to the 13th International Greening of
Industry Network Conference 2006
Kellie Dalton & Pierre McDonagh
Business School
Research Area
What constitutes the dynamic of a Fair Trade
clothing organisation?
We offer this taxonomy as a first step in
answering this question
Business Ethics and Ethical Fashion
• Roots of ecological accountability in the
clothing industry
• Oxymornons??
• Frameworks of CSR
• Opportunities for alleviating the ecological
crisis
Fashion & Apparel Sector
• Towards a taxonomy of ethical/fairtrade
clothing organisations
• Green management
– Drumwrights (1994)Four Categories
• Founders, Symbolism, Opportune, Restraint
Drumwrights Categories:
Symbolism
Opportune
Restraint
Mainstream
Clothing
Organisation
(M.C.O)
FAIRTRADE
Certified/ Organic
Cotton/Alternative
Textile/ChemicalFree Dyes/
Sweatshop Free
Labour/Animal
Cruelty
Free/Renewable
Energy/Recyclable
Packaging/
Reinvestment back
into communities/
minimised transport
Drumwrights Categories:
Founders
Fairtrade
Certified
Clothing
Organisation
Fig. 2 Taxonomy of Ethical/Fairtrade Clothing Organisations
Explanation of the Taxonomy
• Animal Cruelty-Free
• Recycled (second-hand clothing (including purchases
on Ebay), charity shops, swap shops, vintage clothing and
clothing made from recycled material)
• Chemical-Free/Natural Dyes
• ECO-Labels
• Alternative Textiles/Sustainable Fabrics
Explanation of the Taxonomy
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organic Textiles
Sweatshop-Free Labour
Labour Standards
Ethical/Fair-Made/Fair trade (not certified)
Fairtrade Certified
Others
M.C.O
with
Charity
Donation/
Reinvestment of Profit
Product
Offering
Mainstream
Clothing
Organisation
(M.C.O)
M.C.O
with
Organic
Cotton
Product
Offering
M.C.O
with
Fairtrade
Certified
Product
Offering
M.C.O
M.C.O
M.C.O
with
with
with
Alternative
Re-Create/
Labour
Textile Standard
Recycled
Product Product
Product
Offering Offering
Offering
Organic
Certification:
Cotton
Linen
Cord
Wool
Hemp
Skins
Leather
ALTERNATIVE
TEXTILES:
Hemp
Bamboo
Sugar Cane
PCD
Eco-friendly Silk
(Kalahari) Wild
Silk
Ingeo (corn-based)
Merino Wool
PCR Polyester
LABOUR
STANDARDS:
Ethical Trade
Initiative (ETI)
SA8000
Worldwide Responsible
Apparel Production
(WRAP)
Fair Labour Association
(FLA)
SEDEX
UN Global Compact
ILO Standard
Sweatshop
Free
Labour
FAIRTRADE
Not
Certified
(combination
of ethical labour
& environmental
operations)
FAIRTRADE
Certified/ Organic
Cotton/Alternative
Textile/ChemicalFree Dyes/
Sweatshop Free
Labour/Animal
Cruelty
Free/Renewable
Energy/Recyclable
Packaging/
Reinvestment back
into communities/
minimised transport
Fairtrade
Certified
Clothing
Organisation
Fig. 2 Taxonomy of Ethical/Fairtrade Clothing Organisations
(RED)™ Products
Converse
GAP
Armani
1% for the Planet
Patagonia
Armani
Mainstream Heatherette
Clothing
H&M
Organisation Patagonia
(M.C.O)
Topshop
Urban
Outfitters
H&M
Jerrrey Chow
M&S
Nike
Oasis
Paul Smith
Proenza
Schouler
Sainsburys
Organic
Certification:
EDUN
Howies
Katharine Hamnett
Linda Loudermilk
Loomstate
Noir
M&S
Adidas
Debenehams
Armani
Gap
Converse
Levis
Diane von
M&S
Furstenburg
New Look
Imitation
Primark
of Christ
Nike
Oscar de la Renta
ALTERNATIVE
TEXTILES:
Bamboosa
Deborah Milner
EDUN
Katharine Hamnett
Linda Loudermilk
Noir
LABOUR
STANDARDS:
Katharine Hamnett
EDUN
Loomstate
Noir
Sweatshop
Equop
Free
Funky
Gandhi
Labour:
Ideo
American
THTC
Apparel
Tonic
t-shirts
Deborah Lindquist
Howies
Linda Loudermilk
FAIRTRADE
Certified/ Organic
Cotton/Alternative
Textile/ChemicalFree Dyes/
Sweatshop Free
Labour/Animal
Cruelty
Free/Renewable
Energy/Recyclable
Packaging/
Reinvestment back
into communities/
minimised transport
Bishopston
Trading
Epona
Gossypium
Hug
People Tree
Traidcraft
Fig. 2 Taxonomy of Ethical/Fairtrade Clothing Organisations
Fair Trade Disclosure
• Critical Education
• Theory of Sustainable Communication
• Insights from an operational standpoint
Practical Application of Taxonomy
•
•
•
•
Helps understand sectoral position on Fairtrade
Taxonomy serves as a communication tool
Real solutions based on current market activity
Integration of CSR policies and practices into
fashion & apparel organisational strategy
Future Research
• Examine aesthetic of fashion done ethically
• ‘Fast’ fashion to ‘slow’ fashion
• Stamina for consistency and growth in highstreet retail
• CSR in high fashion
• Fashionable ethics v’s Ethical fashion?
END PRESENTATION
Categories of organisations involved in Socially Responsible Organisational Buying (Source: Drumwright, 1994)
Category of Organisation
Definition of Category
Type 1: Founder’s Ideals
An extension of the founders ideals and values
Type 2: Symbolism
Type 3: Opportune
Type 4: Restraint
Being socially responsible stemmed from managements
recognition that socially responsible behaviour was
inextricably linked to the company’s successes and to
discouraging further regulation that would alter the
industry’s structure
Motivated by a compelling competitive advantage
unrelated to social responsibility
Do not have a deliberate strategy of socially responsible
buying. Socially responsible buying has non-negligible
costs here