CARING FOR THE COMMUNITY
Ensuring products are ethically produced, with workers treated well and paid a proper wage, is another strong sustainable trend. Many large retailers work with Fair Trade while a number of small businesses now collaborate directly with cooperatives here and around the world.
The label on UK brand Aerende products is ‘life-improving homeware’ and everything from the online shop is handmade in the UK by people facing barriers to employment. ‘The tagline reflects our commitment to products that will bring joy, beauty and utility to our customers, as well as a sense of purpose, pride and revenue to makers, via the charities and social enterprises that support them,’ says founder Emily Mathieson, whose makers are aged between 30 and 50 and include adults with mental illness, those with learning difficulties or who are visually impaired, as well as refugees, prisoners and the homeless.
Hadeda’s pieces are made by cooperatives in Africa and an 18-piece capsule collection that includes rattan furniture and ceramics is part of Anthropologie’s S/S ’20 offering. ‘I really believe in craft over the mass-produced and there are so many streams of talented designers in Africa – and cooperatives are vital for empowering communities by giving people work and a stable income,’ says Hadeda founder Kate Kindersley.
Meanwhile, Ikea has collaborated with social entrepreneurs who focus on creating jobs in regions where they’re most needed and on women’s empowerment; its Hantverk range of handmade baskets, ceramics and textiles has been made by artisans in India, Thailand, Jordan and Romania.
Similarly, refugee women who live in Jordan’s Jerash ‘Gaza’ refugee camp make a living by creating delicately hand-embroidered textiles in geometric patterns inspired by Islamic architectural geometry and Palestinian heritage for SEP Jordan.
And in Egypt, Handmade With Love is a project (available at re-foundobjects.com) specialising in decorations made with beads, charms and wire, by a cooperative of single women. Mainly young mothers and widows, the work gives them a steady income to help support them and their families.
Making a positive future in another way is the Little Sun solar lamp, designed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. ‘It was created as an alternative to the kerosene lamps that are used in disadvantaged countries,’ says Beatrice Trussardi, curator of Design+art at online lifestyle store Yoox. ‘But it’s also a way of connecting the world through sharing light while making solar energy accessible to everyone and promoting health. In countries with electricity, every Little Sun sold delivers one Little Sun to an off-grid African community at a locally affordable price.’