FashionablyFAIR is about spreading awareness of the human and environmental exploitation that goes into making much of the fashion products found on the highstreet and the ethical alternatives to such products.

Here are a few fun facts and figures about the fashion industry:

£4.6 million

• The amount paid to Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco through salary and share bonuses in 2007.
• The total earnings of more than 25,000 garment workers supplying Tesco’s clothing in 2007.

£12:

• The cost of this Primark dress.

• The minimum monthly wage for garment workers in Bangladesh.

£22:

• The cost of this Dorothy Perkins mini skirt.

• The estimated living monthly wage for Bangladeshi garment workers.

20,000:

• The number of Anya Hindmarch’s ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ bags sold in the hour after they were released at Sainsburys shops nationwide.
• The deaths per year in the developing world as a result of pesticide poisoning, many working in cotton agriculture.

7 million:

• The number of UK consumers who feel that availability of ethically-produced fashion items is poor.
• The number of people in Africa, Asia and South America who are directly benefiting from Fairtrade.

(Sources: Labour Behind the Label, WTO, Sainsburys, Fairtrade Foundation, TNS Worldwide Fashion.)

So what can we do?

1. Buy Fairtrade or non-sweatshop products. As the consumer, you and I have the power to influence the decisions big highstreet retailers make. We’re not calling for a total boycott; just be selective about what you buy. Avoid shops with a particularly bad reputation for workers’ rights, choose items from Fairtrade ranges and find out about other, more ethical shops and brands (perhaps even some of the ones featured in FashionablyFAIR!).
2. Buy secondhand or recycled. When you buy from charity or vintage shops, you can be sure you’re not funding unethical production methods that exploit the environment and the people who made them, no matter where the item came from originally. You’re also recycling and reducing landfill by reusing clothing that would otherwise be thrown away.
3. Check the label.  Many clothes are made from artificial fibres which are largely oil-based. Choose more natural alternatives that reduce the use of unrenewable resources and choose organic to reduce the use of dangerous and environmentally-unfriendly pesticides in favour of cleaner, safer methods of production.
4. Join a campaign. There are many activist organisations that fight to make fashion fairer. Sign up to one and take action. You can write a letter, sign a petition or join a march and make sure that the chief executives of these companies and the governments and organisations that support their methods can hear you. Why not find out about:

• www.ejfoundation.org
• www.labourbehindthelabel.org
• www.peopleandplanet.org/redressfashion
• www.cleanupfashion.co.uk
• www.nosweat.org.uk
• www.ethicalfashionforum.com