Fair Trade Fashion at Prêt-à-Porter, Paris

I have recently returned from exhibiting Pachacuti's Autumn/Winter 2006 alpaca range alongside major fashion companies at Prêt-à-Porter in Paris. The organisers of this key international fashion event are so concerned at exploitation within the garment industry that they set aside an area of the show for fair trade, sustainable, organic and recycled fashion. I was able to use this opportunity to address the inequalities in the global fashion trade through raising awareness that Pachacuti offers a viable alternative to sweatshop-manufactured garments. I was really encouraged to see the interest in fair trade and buyers were concerned to see a link between fair trade production processes and environmental issues such as AZO free dyes and organic cotton. Pachacuti received some very large orders to supply shops in both France and Belgium.