Like many who watched Stacey Dooley’s recent ‘Fashion’s Dirty Secret’ (links below) I was horrified at the impact that the production of cotton has on the environment, on people and animals. Clearly much cotton production is totally unsustainable.
My thoughts then turned to Clare Lissaman who runs Arthur & Henry who make ethically produced shirts in India from sustainably produced cotton. I asked her to tell me the other side of the story of cotton production.
Producing cotton sustainably for Arthur & Henry shirts
Clare kindly agreed and has very kindly offered readers a 20% discount on Arthur & Henry shirts:
Clare Lissaman writes:
Just over five years ago when we launched Arthur & Henry with our belief that ‘every man needs a good shirt’ most people (very politely) thought we were mad. Not only were we going to be an ethical company we were going to be an ethical menswear company. ‘Men don’t care about ethical fashion’, they said.
But we knew that some did. And actually we figured that most men are pretty ethical by default in our shopping - we don’t really like doing it and we like it when our clothes last so we don’t have to do it too often. But why did we care? And what do we mean by ‘ethical’.
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| Arthur & Henry ethically made cotton shirts |
For us it all started with the cotton. Stacey Dooley’s recent ‘Fashion’s Dirty Secret' documentary has been brilliant in getting so many more people talking about something critical to the impact of our clothing - the way in which cotton and other fibres are produced. Cotton farming can indeed, as the film made clear, be really damaging. Whether it’s the water used to grow it draining water stressed areas (over 70% of the world’s cotton is grown using irrigation, mainly wasteful flood irrigation according to industry platform Common Objective) or the insecticides and pesticides used or the low, low prices paid to some of the world’s poorest farmers.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Higg Materials Sustainability Index calculates that organically grown cotton has roughly half the environmental impact of conventionally grown cotton. Arthur & Henry shirts are made from organic Fairtrade cotton. This is grown by certified smallholder farmers in India. The cotton is rain-fed rather than irrigated and as it’s grown organically chemical usage is strictly restricted and soil fertility is invested in.
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| Arthur & Henry shirts are produced from Fairtrade cotton |
It’s not just about the environmental impact though. The farmers not only get an uplift on normal market prices because it’s organic but also can rely on the Fairtrade minimum price which covers their cost regardless of what the market price is doing. They also get a Fairtrade premium to invest in development projects.
Cotton growing is just the start. For us it’s also about the conditions under which it is processed and sewn. We have total transparency, as well as knowing where our cotton comes from right down to the actual villages, we also know each mill, each dye house, and the workers in the factory that sew our shirts. All the processing is done in Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified facilities and we use both that and the Fairtrade Cotton Standard.
Sreeranga Rajan is Production Director and co-owner of Arthur & Henry:
“What do farmers and workers want most? Safe working conditions, job security, decent pay. They are not aliens, they are like us, have the same aspirations.
I always ask the question to every worker, especially women, if you have 10,000 rupees (about £100) now and you know you will have a job for one year, what will you do? Rank them.
Everyone says, first 'send my child to a good school' and second ‘take them to a decent doctor if they are not well’.
But...if they have the 10,000 rupees now but don't have the security will not do those things because they need to keep it in order to feed and house themselves in case they have no work next month.”
We’re proud at Arthur & Henry to be part of a collective of brands that Sreeranga has drawn together committed to working with these farmers, ensuring security of sales as well as training and other development activities.
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| Making an Arthur & Henry shirt in India |
Arthur & Henry shirts can be bought online at www.arthurandhenry.com - Grey Fox readers can have a 20% discount until the end of November 2018 with code GREYFOX
If you work in the industry whether for a brand or a supplier and are interested in how you can be more sustainable Common Objective is a platform which will match you with the connections and resources you need to do fashion better. Sign up for free at commonobjective.co
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With many thanks to Clare Lissaman and all at Arthur & Henry. This is an unsponsored post.
