Sharifa Jamaldin Originally written June 3, 2016 _ updated
People Tree exemplifies a sustainable fashion brand per excellence. And with such a fitting name to boot, who is not a tree person after all. What makes People Tree exciting is that the garments are crafted, handmade, hand-woven, hand-embroidered, and hand-printed. People Tree brand is the model for slow fashion and a cyclical sustainable business. The People Tree fashion palette is simple, clean, understated, artisanal chic, a picturesque array of quality wardrobe-essentials. Feminine Classics. Often showcasing traditional crafts such as weaving, embroidery, hand knitting and block printing. The good part is the company supports artisans in rural areas across the developing countries.
Safia Minney, its founder, is a pioneer in the fair-trade movement, working on first launched Global Village NGO in 1991 living in Japan and soon after a fashion label Fair Trade, noting a need to educate her community about fair trade movement. Building on its success in Japan, she began the People Tree label in 2001 in the UK, championing fair trade and sustainable ethos. People Tree’s has partnered with Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills, an organic garment manufacturing company in India that arranges fair deals for the farmers and workers and follows sustainable values. An integral player in the fair fashion movement, the brand works on various projects such as Swallows, a fair trade initiative in Thanapar India, and celebrities collaborations with celebrities such Emma Watson, Vivienne Westwood, and Zandra Rhodes to highlight inequalities for garment workers in the developing world such as those shown in the Bengladesh Textile Industry.
Safia Minney has written a valuable book about Slow Fashion
which includes insightful interviews with ecologically-driven designers and activists, available on Amazon.
image courtesy of PeopleTree.co.uk