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| The ethics of dressing with
style |
Ethical clothing doesn’t have to mean
hemp slippers and shapeless tie-dyed tops, writes Roisin Gadelrab
WHILE fairly traded chocolate and organic foods sparkle with
a promise of quality, fair trade clothing conjures up images of
shapeless tie-dyed garments.
This may not exactly be a fair representation, but this is the concept
young entrepreneur Penny Cooke is determined to prove wrong.
The 26-year-old has set up shop in Islington’s Camden Passage,
displaying a vast array of ethical clothing – with one big
difference – they’ve got style.
Penny, who has called her shop Equa, said: “The time had come.
The whole fair trade fashion is kind of hot at the moment.
“I’ve always known there’s lots of beautiful clothes
out there that are fairly traded. I knew you could have fashion
and style rather than tie dye.”
For Penny, (pictured) who lives in Sotheby Road, Highbury, gone
are the days when ethical clothing meant a destiny of multi-coloured
waistcoats and hemp slippers.
She believes Equa’s pristine turquoise interior boasts a range
of clothing you’d be proud to be seen out in – with the
added bonus of being easy on the conscience.
Visitors to the store, which targets children and women over 30,
can feel safe in the knowledge that their new shoes, handbags and
dresses are exploitation-free.
Most of the clothing, which is all organic, comes from India and
Peru and the farmers and fabric producers are paid a fair price.
Penny believes Camden Passage, which already has an organic market
and a plethora of individual businesses, has the potential to become
a significant ethical centre in London.
She said: “Camden passage is the right area for this sort of
clothing. People who visit the passage have the right sort of understanding
of fair trade and organic produce.”
Penny, who has an MA in Development Studies, has chosen designers
such as Eternal Creation – committed to improving the living
conditions and prospects of exiled Tibetans – and established
fair trade brands such as People Tree and Bishopston Trading Company.
She says her vision was realised with the help of a “good business
plan” and support from her family.
Equa’s subtle interior was carefully designed to demonstrate
the store’s ethical ethos.
Stacked above colourful garments is a stack of brown boxes and the
shop fittings are made of plywood. Penny said: “The boxes resemble
packing crates that have just been ripped open. The plywood was
quite inexpensive, we wanted to use wood but not obscenely expensive
wood. It wouldn’t seem right for a shop like this.”
And a strange black scrawl on one wall has a much deeper significance
than immediately apparent. A closer inspection reveals a world map
with a difference.
Penny said: “The map’s turned upside-down. When you first
come in a lot of people don’t realise what it is. The idea
is to make you look harder at the world – and look at the world
from a different perspective. Eventually my plan is to put some
small labels to show where my clothes come from.”
• Equa, 28 Camden Passage, N1.
020 7359 0955 |
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