Fairtrade Fortnight begins today to highlight the need to support workers in developing countries by switching to Fairtrade products, as HESTER McTURK reports.

BEFORE you say ethically sourced clothing and accessories are poor quality or worn by hippies, you might want to think again. Many businesses have raised the bar these days and in York, Ali Gane, who runs online retailer Onfriday, wants to see the stereotyped image changed.

Ali has lived here for 18 years and in November, she launched a website which sells quality, on-trend bags for men and women. All are selected from trusted ethical fashion brands and either hand or factory made by workers who are paid a decent wage.

Fairtrade is about more than just fashion. By shopping ethically, we can play our own part in ridding the world of sweat shops where people are treated as little more than slaves. And the clothes are often better, too. “Ethical fashion is often perceived as being low quality or hippie,” says Ali. “So we were keen to avoid this kind of image when selecting our ranges.

“When we carried out some market research, many people told us that they would love to buy ethical bags, but simply couldn’t find anything that was fashionable or attractive enough for their taste.”

So Ali set about filling that gap in the market with designs such as unusual ‘up-cycled’ materials such as tyre inner tubes.

After her career in sport, including a period as a freelance sports consultant and chair of Active York Community Sports Network, Ali decided that she needed a change and a new challenge.

“I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do and decided that ethical fashion was a real interest of mine and a real passion.

“I’m really enjoying working with young people and up-and-coming designers. A number of Onfriday’s designers and suppliers are based in the UK with brilliant Fairtrade partnerships in Nepal and India. It’s been great working with them and knowing that the supply chain is really short and transparent.”

One such designer is Yorkshire-based Laura Queening, who established the brand Aura Que in 2008, a year after graduating from Cordwainers at the London College of Fashion.

Another brand Ali stocks is Elvis & Kresse, whose range of bags and mobile phone cases is made exclusively from de-commissioned British fire brigade hoses which, after a distinguished career fighting fires and saving lives, were otherwise destined for landfill.

“Once the grease and soot of active service is scrubbed away, the result is a truly ‘green’ material with the appearance and feel of finest leather. Their products have been featured in American Vogue and are a firm favourite of movie star Cameron Diaz.”

At just under three months old, Onfriday is doing very nicely thank you and Ali has received a lot of great feedback from customers. And she’s already looking to expand by increase her designers and suppliers, and creating the best Fairtrade bags available online.

But you don’t have to use the internet. If you prefer your shopping up close and personal by browsing the rails instead, look no further than One, an ethical fashion boutique on Grape Lane whose tagline is “Responsibly Gorgeous”.

Boutique owner Anne McCrickard opened One in 2006 to ensure that stylish clothing from ethical sources were made available on the high street. Before last July, One sat snugly in Peter Lane, just off Market Street.

Anne’s concept was to sell gorgeous, desirable, feminine things that had been responsibly sourced.

“It is really important that products are desirable for Fairtrade to really work,” she says.

Jeremy Piercy is the owner of Shared Earth Ltd which began with just one shop on Minster Gates, Now it is the UK’s largest Fairtrade retailer with no fewer than 13 outlets across the country, all selling jewellery, accessories, gifts and children’s products.

“Fairtrade has changed from the time when it was just tea and coffee and baskets from Bangladesh,” says Jeremy. “Now it includes fashionable clothing and trendy gifts.”

He employs three designers and wholesales to top retailers who want to buy the best. Jeremy says competition is fierce, and that means constantly updating his products to keep customers interested.

“Sometimes – with some of our recycled gifts for instance – we’re ahead of trends.”

• Fairtrade Fortnight runs from until March 13 and according to The Fairtrade Foundation, British shoppers spent £21.8 million on Fairtrade products in 1999. By 2009 this figure had ballooned to £799 million. And its affects are wide reaching: today, at least one in every four bananas sold in UK supermarkets are ethically sourced.