Fair-trade fashion Fair, Fine and Still Highly Fashionable
There was a time when ethnical fashion suffered the impression of being a pity product. No longer. At the same time more and more importance is being attached to the question of who makes the clothes and how they do it. Now labels like Gundara, Lanius or Armed Angels have young, fashionable answers that allow fair-trade projects to shed their sober eco-image.
Gundara, Shopper | Photo: Jean Amat Amoros
During her assignment as a development worker in Kabul in 2007, Gunda Amat Amoros discovered the small leather manufacturing business of Mohammed Yaqub. His bags were made of finest kidskin and meticulously sewn, but they were not selling well. They did, however, appeal to the political scientist, Gunda Amat Amoros, who was so taken by the material and the craftsmanship that she enthusiastically started to design bags for her own use and for her friends, even though she had no previous knowledge. These models, that now featured many more inside pockets, for example, were quickly snatched up in her circle of friends and acquaintances. They were so popular that her husband, Jean Amat Amoros, a geographer and development worker, managed to persuade her to bring out a complete catalogue of bags. “And so began the story of the Gundara label“, Gunda Amat Amoros comments.
Johanna Riplinger, Collection autumn/winter 2015 | Photo: Sarah Dulay
When the couple returned to Berlin in 2009 they continued to expand their network and the range of products. Jean Amat Amoros looks after the online shop with a growing selection of merchandise. Besides Mohammed Yaqub’s bags from Kabul there are other models designed by Gunda Amat Amoros, some of these coming from a cooperative for physically handicapped men in Burkina Faso. The product range also includes plaids from Pakistan, Babouche slippers from Morocco, Tuareg jewellery from Niger and silk scarfs from northern Afghanistan. Most importantly, the couple’s overall objective remains the same for all products, 30 per cent of the retail price goes back to the makers and middlemen are not accepted. In this way, they can offer the craftspeople long-term work perspectives. “But the products still have to look good,” Gunda Amat Amoros adds, “no one should buy them out of pity.” “
Success with basics – thanks to the backing of German celebrities
Something that is often only accomplished in Germany with lower-priced T-shirt labels, like the already mentioned Armed Angels. Due to renowned actors and musicians endorsing the label, Cologne-based Anton Jurina and Martin Höfeler have been able to raise awareness for sustainable working conditions and raw materials in the fashion industry among the under-thirties. With their fresh and lively designs, and the high recognition value of their logo, they have stormed some of Germany’s big stores.