W E LC O M E
BRAND BOOK
For every beautiful garment People Tree makes, there’s an equally beautiful change happening somewhere in the world.
CONTENTS
Core Brand Values The Woman Our Story Our Mission Fair Trade Producer Partners Artisanal Handcrafts Sustainable Fabrics Campaign Designer Collaborations Our Creative Director Stockists People Tree Foundation
EMPOWERING CONTEMPORARY CONSCIOUS
THE WOMAN The People Tree woman follows a conscious approach to life. She reminds us of the power that exists when femininity and confidence are combined. Her wardrobe is relaxed and feminine with essential pieces in contemporary silhouettes and considered details; her taste lasts beyond the season. The collections reflect on the coexistence of the organic and colourful, explored through an array of brightly hued textures, woven and handcrafted by artisans. She is aged between 25 and 50 and strives for a sustainable and positive outlook. The People Tree woman is focused on achieving the right balance between career, family and friends, ensuring she makes time for the quality moments in life that make her happy.
O U R S TO RY People Tree is the pioneer of sustainable and conscious fashion, established in 1991 by awardwinning social entrepreneur Safia Minney. People Tree launched the first fashion range to meet the Global Organic Textile Standard certified by the Soil Association, manufactured in the developing world. People Tree is the first fashion company to be awarded the World Fair Trade Organisation product label. These certifications guarantee People Tree’s dedication and compliance to the principles of fair trade, covering fair wages, good working conditions, transparency, environmental best practice, gender equality and setting the example for conventional fashion companies to improve their supply chains. Our products are made to the highest ethical and environmental standards from start to finish. Collections featuring organic cotton, TENCEL™ Lyocell and ethical wool, are made using traditional artisan skills such as hand weaving, hand knitting, hand embroidery and hand block printing. Contemporary, versatile designs and playful, exclusive prints inspired by nature create stylish, innovative and affordable fashion, while respecting people and the planet.
OUR MISSION People Tree UK actively supports farmers, producers and artisans through 13 fair trade producer groups around the world. Fair trade means far more than paying a fair price. People Tree aims to use fashion as a tool to empower the world’s most marginalised people. We provide technical assistance for producers, so they can improve their skills, strengthen their businesses and have a positive social impact. Fair trade is an alternative approach to conventional international trade. It is a partnership between producers and traders, which aims at sustainable development for excluded and economically disadvantaged people in developing countries. Fair trade promotes livelihoods and enables people to put food on their tables, to live and work with dignity and educate their children. People Tree products are designed to revitalise the use of traditional skills and combine them with a core focus on innovative technologies to support and grow business for our producers. By using skills such as hand weaving, hand knitting or hand embroidery we create employment in rural areas where work is often scarce. These production methods are also carbon neutral. All clothes are dyed using low impact dyes, free from harmful azo chemicals which are frequently used in clothing manufacture. We use natural materials where possible, avoiding plastic and toxic substances.
FA I R T R A D E P R O D U C E R PA RT N E R S At People Tree, we see it as our core mission to work closely with people in developing countries to build viable businesses that can sustain communities. We pass on our knowledge and provide financial assistance when needed so that these businesses can not only meet our high production standards, but also develop competitive, desirable products. Each fair trade group is unique, with some set up specifically to deal with a particular issue, or help a specific community.
ARTISAN HUT
KTS
Artisan Hut was founded in 2002 by Monju Haque and has its head office and production workshop in Dhaka.
Kumbeshwar Technical School produces highquality knitted fashion garments and accessories. These textiles are entirely made from wool, cotton, and other natural fibers, such as banana and ‘allo’ fibers.
Artisan Hut’s mission is to promote and celebrate traditional hand skills through their beautiful garments. They often cannot compete with the fast fashion market, where the main priority is often to get a new garment from the design board to the shop floor in 6 weeks. Together with People Tree, Artisan Hut’s mission is to show how fashion can be done differently.
Kumbeshwar Technical School (KTS) is an educational and vocational training centre based in Kathmandu, Nepal. KTS employs over 2,000 artisans who produce a collection of hand knitted and embroidered cardigans, jumpers, hats, gloves and scarves. Artisans are mostly women who can work part time for KTS and look after their children at the same time. In 1984, KTS opened a primary school and introduced a carpet-weaving training programme for adults. The KTS organisation today encompasses a free nursery and primary school for 250 children and offers welfare and education for up to 25 orphan/ semi-orphan children in the KTS orphanage. KTS supports fair trade income-generating programmes for its producers, through the sale of high-quality fair trade carpets, products, which fund and sustain the KTS activities.
C R E AT I V E H A N D I C R A F T S
BOMBOLULU
Creative Handicrafts is a social enterprise based in Mumbai that works to empower disadvantaged women of the slum communities through economic independence.
Bombolulu is a fair trade and social business in Mombasa, Kenya. Bombolulu was established in 1969 as a rehabilitation project sponsored by the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya.
Over the last 30 years, Creative Handicrafts has evolved into a fair trade organisation with a view to changing the world one woman at a time. Since its inception in 1984 and registration in 1994, Creative Handicrafts has slowly grown into a Fair Trade Organisation that supports the women who make textile-based, fair trade certified products.
People Tree partners with Bombolulu to create beautiful handmade jewellery in copper, brass and silver plate. Besides jewellery, Bombolulu creates leatherwork, carving and textiles, providing work for over 100 people. Artisans at Bombolulu make every detail of the jewellery by hand – even the link of each chain is made by hand.
The focus of Creative Handicrafts is not the women alone but their families too - especially their children. This is reflected in the various projects undertaken. In keeping with its mission, Creative Handicrafts also started a catering service managed by women who could not pick up the skill of sewing. This project is now run under the name ‘ASLI FOODS’ and is managed independently by the women themselves.
Bombolulu provides support to disabled artisans to help them overcome their physical limitations and empower them economically and socially to become fully integrated members of their communities.
HAND EMBROIDERED
H A N D B L O C K- P R I N T I N G
People Tree designers adorn our products from simple tops to embellished wedding gowns with hand embroidery, a traditional skill passed down through generations.
The handcraft skill of block printing started in the 14th century in Bangladesh as a way of decorating clothing. People Tree uses block printing to maintain this ancient skill and bring you unique craft prints in a contemporary way. People Tree partners with fair trade groups in Bangladesh who specialise in hand block printing fabric. Environmentally friendly dyes are always used.
People Tree collaborates with two fair trade groups in Bangladesh who produce beautiful hand embroidered garments: Swallows and Artisan Hut. Hand embroidery is a traditional skill that has been passed down through generations in India and Bangladesh. To create a hand embroidered dress for People Tree, the first step is weaving the fabric by hand using traditional looms. Then the artisans embroider the fabric by hand. After the embroidery is complete, the fabric is washed, cut and sewn into a dress. The artisans are highly skilled and capable of creating intricate embroidery as neat as that done by a machine – and all done by hand.
The first step is to design a print, working out how to layer colours and shapes. Next the artisans carve wooden blocks that will be used to print the fabric. The artisans lay fabric straight on very long tables and then mix the colours. They then work carefully to print one colour at a time, placing each block with practiced precision to layer the colours and create a unique print.
HAND KNIT TED
HAND WOVEN
People Tree and our artisan partners create a collection of hand knitted jumpers and accessories made with wool, cotton, and other natural yarns. We partner with artisans to design and produce beautiful hand knitted clothing and accessories. We collaborate with fashion designers and work alongside our fair trade producers, empowering them to create garments that are fashionable and high quality.
People Tree partners with Swallows, Artisan Hut and Dev Tech in Bangladesh to make garments from high quality, hand woven fabric.
In the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, People Tree works with over 2500 artisans who hand knit jumpers, cardigans and accessories using natural materials, including cotton, sheep’s wool and banana fibre. People Tree’s hand knitted garments and accessories are made by Kumbeshwar Technical School (KTS), which is based in Nepal. KTS employs home-based artisans who produce a collection of hand knitted and embroidered pieces for People Tree. Hand knitting not only makes a unique and beautiful product, it also provides women with the opportunity to work. Many are university students and mums who knit, on average, 5 hours a day to finance their tuition fees or children’s schooling.
Hand weaving is a traditional skill passed down through generations. Hand looms are powered by the person operating them, not electricity and our makers can produce 7 to 12 metres of fabric per day. Fabric woven by hand uses nine times more labour than that which has been produced by a power loom. This provides more people with income, and the ability to care for their families. People Tree works with producer groups to ensure weavers are fairly paid for their work. Whenever we buy garments made with fair trade hand woven fabric, we are helping families and communities to forge a path out of poverty, by ensuring valuable, traditional livelihoods do not disappear.
FA I RT R A D E C E RT I F I E D C OT TO N
O R G A N I C C OT TO N
Fairtrade International (FLO) is a non-profit organisation focusing on the empowerment of producers and workers in developing countries through trade. FLO certified cotton guarantees that the farmer is paid a fair trade minimum price for their cotton. In addition, the farmer receives a premium, which they can then use to fund community development projects.
Organic cotton products are produced without harmful synthetic chemicals or additives and are grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment.
Although FLO certification is for the cotton itself, goods made with the cotton have to be certified throughout the supply chain, and must adhere to strict social and environmental standards.
Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilisers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organisations such as GOTS, verify that organic producers use only approved methods and materials throughout production. In addition, federal regulations prohibit the use of genetically engineered seed for organic farming.
TENCEL
MERINO WOOL
TENCEL™ Lyocell is a cellulose fibre derived from wood pulp in a unique system that recycles almost 100% of solvent in the closed loop process. The fabric is also biodegradable. TENCEL™ has a soft, smooth finish, drapes well and absorbs moisture.
Wool is a natural material that has been used for thousands of years. It provides warmth, breathability and all-weather protection. Wool is beautiful and durable.
TENCEL™ is produced by the Lenzing Group which is an environmentally responsible company. Their policies for the TENCEL™ production includes: Striving to source wood and pulp exclusively from non-controversial sources, preferring suppliers participating in credible forest certification programs. Regular risk-assessments, audits and on-site visits as well as independent third-party certification of the sustainable forest management programs help to ensure the policy compliance.
Unlike synthetic materials that are extremely slow to degrade, wool is a natural material that will biodegrade when disposed of. Wool is a sustainable, renewable resource. Every year new wool grows on a sheep’s back and can be removed without any harm to the animal.
C A M PA I G N
SS18 - V&A Designer Collaboration
SS18 - Mainline Collection
AW18 - Mainline Collection
AW18 - Mainline Collection
SS19 - Mainline Collection
SS19 - Mainline Collection
SS19 - V&A Designer Collaboration
D E S I G N E R C O L L A B O R AT I O N S People Tree is renowned for collaborating with international designers to create capsule collections that marry high design with sustainability. For 2019, People Tree continues a capsule collection with the V&A Museum and designer Peter Jensen. Previously we have worked with Vivienne Westwood, Orla Kiely, Richard Nicoll, Thakoon and Zandra Rhodes. World attention was drawn to People Tree when actress Emma Watson collaborated with the brand on her first ever fashion collection.
TRACY MULLIGAN CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Award-winning fashion designer Tracy Mulligan was appointed Creative Director from 2017. Tracy studied Fashion and Textiles at Central Saint Martins and quickly became one of the first London Fashion Week New Generation designers. She created her own brand Mulligan with stockists including Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Barneys. Fuelled by her genuine love for designing, Tracy’s new role brings a refreshing, contemporary fashion direction to People Tree.
NOW SOLD IN 300 stores
AVA I L A B L E I N over 20 countries
C U R R E N T LY S T O C K E D I N British department stores John Lewis and House of Fraser online at ASOS
www.peopletree.co.uk
P E O P L E T R E E F O U N D AT I O N The People Tree Foundation is an independent charity, working alongside People Tree. The Foundation will bring benefits to an even greater number of farmers and artisans through scaling up training, technical support and environmental initiatives as well as through raising awareness and campaigning for fair and sustainable fashion. The foundation aims to reduce poverty by creating new work opportunities and community support for people in developing countries. They promote environmental projects, organic cotton farming and campaigning to create an empowering environment for Fair Trade producers and sustainability amongst the public, business leaders and policy makers.