People Tree is a pioneer in the fair trade fashion industry. It was founded by Safia Minney in Japan in 1997 and has been based in Britain since 2001. In 1991, Minney also founded the NGO Global Village in Japan for social and environmental justice, and the Fair Trade Company, which were the first fruits of the labor of People Tree.
Large-scale production of Fair Trade textiles faces challenges, which are traditionally linked to pollution. Production demands impossible yields of cotton that producers and soils cannot handle. For example, one million farmers are poisoned each year by manipulated chemicals.
Cotton consumes 25% of the world's pesticides, for 3% of the cultivated area. In this context, People Tree aims to have the most ecological and respectful clothing production line possible and to inform customers about its added value compared to conventional textile industries.
People Tree has set it itself apart from other brands because it aims to educate consumers about working conditions and meet expectations for transparency about the origin of its garments. It also maintains an engagement with its stakeholders, including producers.
A Pioneer in Sustainable Fashion
People Tree are regarded as pioneers of ethical and sustainable fashion. For over 27 years they have been setting the standard for quality, design, sustainability, and fair trade from their headquarters in the UK, creating a new form of business where fashion meets organic materials and fairtrade workshops.
Shunning everything the fast fashion industry stands for, such as climate change or exploitation, they are committed to creating beautiful garments, synonymous with their values and yours; their clothes are always made from natural and sustainable materials, using traditional skills from the places where they are made.
People Tree was the first apparel brand in the world to receive WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) accreditation, and it was also the first clothing brand to achieve a GOTS Certification for its manufacturing system, and its products are made by authentic artisans from different countries.
Humanizing the Relationship Between Producers and Consumers
Portraits of the different garment producers are displayed in the brand's online store. For each garment, a "Made by..." link provides access to the supplier who made the clothing. People Tree also uses the Internet to communicate with its consumers. On Safia Minney's blog, "People Tree Magazine", all the news and events of the brand and its producers are shared.
Every two years, People Tree organizes a "Social Review", in which consumers, workers and producers rate the brand against the 10 principles of the World Fair Trade Organization and share their wishes for improvement and feedback. The "Social Review" helps People Tree define its action and communication priorities to respond to the interests and expectations of its key stakeholders.
Another example is its commitment to certified organic cotton. After all the abuses reported in the organic cotton sector, in 2007 People Tree publicly committed to promoting organic cotton and significantly increasing its organic cotton quantities, doubling the volume in 2010. To achieve this, People Tree has strengthened ties with its long-standing partner supplier, Agrocel, which works with 20,000 farmers in India, to help them switch to organic farming.
People Tree certifies its clothing with Soil Association, assuring its customers that it is organic in the cotton field, on the loom, from the start of production to its journey to the warehouse.