ETHICAL CLOTHES FOR EVERYDAY WEAR
We have recently received the news that Fairtees, one of our favourite Australian ethical clothing brands has closed.
This is very sad news as Fairtees offered competively priced organic, fair trade clothing that was easy on the earth and easy on the eye.
We suggest taking a look at Fair Indigo organic clothing if you’re looking for sustainable, ethical, everyday wear at reasonable prices – You can check out prices and availability here.
Fairtees – The Origin
All Rachel wanted to do was buy a plain grey t-shirt.
But finding a truly good tee proved to be more difficult than she expected and Rachel was faced with the decision: buy a dodgy t-shirt from a supermarket or buy no t-shirt at all.
After plenty of cups of tea, a fair bit of looking dreamily into the sky, and a lot of help from her friends, Rachel decided there was a better way…
Fairtees was launched, offering organic cotton clothing and fair trade clothing, ethical t-shirts, tanks, and hoodies.
THE BIRTH
Fairtees was the love child of a futile shopping trip and a growing desire for fairness and sustainability in clothing production. We know how hard it is to find organic and fair trade clothing in Australia – let alone a good looking, great fitting, well made plain tee!
So Fairtees has sourced top quality, fair trade and organic cotton clothing to make finding the perfect tee easy.
WHO ARE FairTees?
We’re a small, down to earth business run by young Australians who want to help other Australians find fashionable, great quality organic & fair trade clothing, and we’ve been operating since 2013. In a country with hardly any ethical clothing choices, we want to spread a new wave of good fashion.
We want to operate as a sustainable business that is conscious of the environment, and takes responsibility for minimising our impact. We think this is the future of good business.
MADE IN…?
Our ethical clothing range (made up of garments produced by Belgian company Stanley & Stella) is skillfully stitched together in Bangladesh (93% of production occurs here), China (5%), Portugal (2%) and Turkey (production here is phasing out in 2017).
There are 4 garment factories used in Bangladesh, and 1 each in China and Portugal. You can read more about the organic and sustainable as well as ethical clothing production methods and factory conditions on our site.
For an independent report of the annual auditing by the Fair Wear Foundation, covering details of Stanley & Stella garment factory conditions as well as progress towards the payment of a living wage for factory workers, please read our blog.
You can also find all past reports of Stanley & Stella factory production performance by the Fair Wear Foundation here.
MADE OF…?
The raw materials include Organic Cotton, Linen, Lenzing Modal® (beech fibre), Lenzing Tencel® (eucalyptus fibre & organic cotton blend), Recycled Polyester, and Polyester.
The Organic Cotton comes mainly from India, the Linen (from flax) is mainly from France, and the Recycled Polyester and Polyester are both sourced in China.
Over 50% of the wood, chips & bark used to make Lenzing Modal® and Lenzing Tencel® fibre is sourced from sustainable forestry in Austria, with the remaining wood sourced from sustainable forestry in 11 neighbouring countries – Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, France, Belgium, Romania, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia and Switzerland.
Production of Lenzing Modal® and Lenzing Tencel® fibres occurs in Austria.
You can read more about Lenzing’s wood purchasing policies, their ecological resposibility policies around sourcing, use and production here. All of the thread used to stitch together Stanley & Stella garments is made of polyester, as cotton (even organic cotton!) is not strong enough.
WHY CHOOSE FAIRTEES?
When we buy a tee, we rarely think about who stitched it together, how long it will last us, and how a profit is made.
When you choose Fairtees, you can feel good knowing that the clothes you’re buying are fashionable, high quality and ethical.
We do the research (and the all important testing!), so that you don’t have to. You can also feel good knowing that you’re siding with a small business in Australia.
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