Last week I went on a bit about the American designers who are looking to Africa for projects that can support these people (and their extended family), act as a charitable arm of their design and continue to raise their fashion credibility back in the US. This version of fair trade is Western money being spent on desirable goods made by African craftsmen. All good.
But this morning I came into the office to be met with a new paradigm in this continuing evolution of fair trade. And this one is local. Cape Town township local.
Credited by the World Fair Trade Organisation, Township Patterns is a social enterprise that supports around 70 women in the townships of the Western Cape and has an annual turnover of around R10 million.
Founded by Nicole-Marie Iresch, the aim is to create a sustainable vehicle for economic empowerment. Support is provided to independent sewing co-operatives, which are owned and managed by women on the Cape Flats.
And next month they will be opening a store in the new Cape Quarter, where bags, mens and womens clothing and fabrics will be available for anyone to purchase. This form of fair trade happens in Africa, by Africans to the benefit of us all.