OUR PRODUCTS

When we first started Renegades of Chic, our intention was to only stock products certified by Fairtrade International or the World Fair Trade Organisation, and made from recycled material or GOTS-certified organic cotton. I thought this would be the best way of using our buying power to end poverty and create positive change, particularly for women who make up the majority of textile workers and home-based artisans across the world.

As I started sourcing products and talking to designers I realised it wasn't that simple. Here are just some of the challenges I discovered:

• Some countries don't have factories certified by Fairtrade International or national branches of the World Fair Trade Organisation. This immediately limited the number of countries we would be able to source from, and excluded some which have high levels of poverty.
• The majority of handmade products are made by women working from home or in informal workshops, and right now there's no widely accepted formal certification process. For example, Fairtrade International standards are appropriate for small-scale farmers and people working in factory environments, but can't be easily applied to home-based artisans. We're determined to change this to provide consumers with more transparency and empower artisans. That's why we're a co-operative member of NEST who are working towards ethical standards for home-based artisans, so watch this space!
• Many small businesses can't afford to apply and retain formal certification, particularly in the early stages. For some, even as they start to increase their sales, they prefer to use their additional revenue to employ more artisans and increase their impact instead of spending it on fees. For example, it can cost over 3,000 euro to apply for certification by Fairtrade International, as well as annual fees of over 2,000 euro.
• In countries where GOTS-certified cotton isn't produced domestically, some business owners prefer to support local farmers and buy uncertified organic or conventional cotton instead of importing it from other countries. While this supports economic growth in their local community, there is an environmental cost, particularly if they're a large-scale producer.
• Some designers working with women in vulnerable circumstances (for example, women who have recently escaped from human trafficking) are unable to disclose their location in case they are discovered by traffickers or authorities who are colluding with traffickers. This makes it practically impossible to apply for formal certification due to the level of disclosure required and visits from external auditors.
• Designers who are working with artisans to create handmade products and pay fair wages have significantly higher labour costs compared to businesses mass-producing in factories. These costs are even higher when artisans live in remote places, as logistics are more expensive compared to businesses based in major cities. This often means they need to purchase lower-cost materials to remain price competitive and operate a viable business model, and may not be able to afford the most environmentally friendly option.

At the same time as learning about these challenges, I'm seeing the incredible impact that uncertified businesses are having - particularly for women. They are creating opportunity where it has never existed before. They are empowering women and men to work close to home, even where they live in remote and rural places, earn fair wages, send their kids to school and build a better life for themselves and their families.

In other words, they are disrupting poverty at its roots and giving people all over the world the opportunity to thrive.

The one thing that's become clear to me is this - there is no one 'right' way. Sometimes change takes takes longer than we would like it to, or it looks different to what we expected. But as long as we support each other to keep learning and growing I have no doubt we can achieve great things.

So, rather than using certification as the sole criteria for choosing our products, we look at a business' net impact. This means we look at their production volumes, how they disrupt poverty and their impact on the environment, to determine whether their overall impact is positive or negative. I'll be the first to admit there's no complex algorithm or exact science behind this, and our thinking is constantly evolving as we ask more questions and continue to learn.

As a starting point, all of our products are designed or made by women (most are both), because as a feminist business we're committed to empowering women and achieving gender equality, and we ensure all of the artisans involved in making our products are paid a fair wage. You can read more about our values here.

After shortlisting a range of designers, we then gather all the information we can find and select our products based on the following criteria: