Arthur & Henry Fairtrade shirts

Arthur & Henry are launching a Fairtrade and organic cotton range of shirts during Fairtrade Fortnight (23 February to 8 March). 

Farmers loading cotton

Clare Lissaman of Arthur & Henry told me, 

"We're hugely pleased about this; our co-founder Ranga has spent a lot of time with these particular farmers (a group in Odisha in India) and says it's really noticeable the difference being Fairtrade certified means to them. And they are some of the poorest in India".

I've described Arthur & Henry's sterling work with Indian farmers and producers before on the blog. To find out more and to buy these high quality but reasonably-priced shirts, go to the Arthur & Henry website.

Fairtrade certified cotton Canterbury polo (red and navy) £30

Fairtrade Oxford weave cotton long sleeve shirts (white and navy) £65

Fashion Revolution Day. Who made your clothes?

One year on from the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh, which killed over 1,000 garment workers, Fashion Revolution Day is challenging people to wear an item of clothing inside out, look at the label and ask the brand “who made your clothes?” People will be doing this in over 60 countries, sharing images & stories on social media using the #insideout hashtag. 

Clothing suppliers should be able to tell us who made the clothes we buy, whether they're made here in the UK or abroad. Here are two shirt makers in India who are proud of the work they do making shirts for the UK market.

'Shankar - supremely skilled tailor'

Manju – tailor (and big fan of the Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni)

Clare Lissaman, who sits on the board founder of the Ethical Fashion Forum and the Advisory Committee of Fashion Revolution Day and is a founder of Arthur & Henry, whose Indian-tailored shirts I've mentioned on this blog before, sent me these images of two of the tailors who make their shirts. 

Clare told me, "We know who makes our shirts. And as you can see from the pictures they are proud to tell others. They were keen to design and print out the signs themselves."

If the suppliers of your clothes cannot tell you who made your clothes how can you be sure their workers are well-treated and paid and working in safe conditions? Should you be buying from them?

On The Guardian blog - Not all Asian clothing factories are unethical

My latest blog on The Guardian Fashion Blogs Network looks at how clothes can be ethically and sustainably sourced from Asia. After disasters such as the Rana Plaza factory collapse last year, many more thoughtful consumers are looking to buy ethically-sourced products. 

I spoke to Clare Lissaman of Arthur & Henry shirts for some guidance and to hear how she started her organic cotton shirt business. See Grey Fox on The Guardian Fashion Blogs Network to read more. 

For more about Arthur & Henry click here

Getting the new Dr Who look - Timeless style?

So Peter Capaldi's new Dr Who is apparently ditching the tweed and woolly scarves and going for a mod-style red silk-lined navy Crombie with dark blue trousers, white shirt (buttoned at collar, of course), navy waistcoat and black Doc Martens (maybe more skinhead than mod?). As an honorary member of the Grey Fox Club, an older man of style, Capaldi gets our approval. He'll help the gradual rediscovery of the powerful grey pound by the fashion industry. [Edit - since posting this the BBC has changed its description of the shoes to 'sturdy black shoes'. I'm told that those in the image below are Loake, not Doc Martens. I already had a photo of Loake boots below.]

Will we be seeing many Dr Who lookalikes on our streets? Here's how you can be one too.

Image BBC

The main feature is the red lined Crombie - a coat much favoured by everyone from City gents to skinheads and mods. It's interesting how a former symbol of capitalist power can also have been adopted by rebel youth movements and, of course, rebel time lords.

Navy Crombie with red silk lining - from Crombie of course

Arthur & Henry ethically-made white shirt

Sir Plus navy wool waistcoat

Oliver Spencer navy wool fishtail Pennington trouser

Doc Martens 3989 shoe

Or...........

Loake smooth black leather boots

Arthur & Henry lambswool scarves from India - read their fascinating story

A few days ago, Clare Lissaman, a friend of mine and director of Arthur & Henry (whose ethically-made shirts I've written about here), told me about some lambswool scarves she'd added to their website. 

I loved the colours and the story behind their manufacture by a group of very special women in India. Here's their story, told by Clare:

"Our scarves are all 100% fine lambswool, spun and woven for us by the women of the Panchachuli co-operative in the Himalayas. All profits are ploughed back into the organisation with the objective of increasing opportunities for rural women to receive training, gain employment and earn a livelihood for themselves and their families through the hand loom way of life. 

Founded in 1997, the co-operative now has over 700 women whose lives and livelihoods have been transformed through being part of Panchachuli. Mukti Dutta, who founded it over a decade ago, has this to say:

Here in the hills, society is still very, very male dominated. Life is extremely tough for women despite the increase in upward mobility these days. There is a lot of alcoholism, most of the men are away working in towns, so the women are left to fend for themselves. There is also a lot of sexual abuse and domestic violence. So it is a very difficult life for these women and Panchachuli has shown them a path out of hopelessness; that there is something you can do to get out of this rut, as it were. So many women come here in very desperate conditions asking for a job.

We love these scarves, not just because of the story, but because the quality of the workmanship is so high."

To see more about these fair trade, handwoven, lambswool scarves (which measure 190 x 36cm) and to buy them, please visit Arthur & Henry's website here.

The women of Panchachuli

The women of Panchachuli  spinning

The women of Panchachuli at their looms

Arthur and Henry: ethically-made shirts for men - Christmas discount for Grey Fox readers!

Another relative newcomer to the fashion world, Arthur and Henry is a British business based on firm ethical principles. They claim to offer the first full collection of ethical, organic and fair trade cotton formal and casual shirts for men. The shirts are made by skilled tailors in India using organic, fairly traded cotton.

It's good to see that shirt lengths are made generous; my experience is that most shirts are too short, untucking too easily, particularly now that most trousers are relatively low-waisted. Much attention has been paid to the quality of the stitching, buttons and dying.

Despite the attention to quality and ethical principles, prices are reasonable.

P.S. Since I published this post, Arthur and Henry have kindly offered Grey Fox readers a 15% Christmas discount with code TwitterXmas. For more information click HERE.