Japan

Shot by the Shoot

How we photographed our Autumn Winter Japan catalogue

We’re picked up at 5am – a lovely team Yutaka Kodashiro doing hair, Mariko Shimada on make up, Megumi Date styling, models Rie and Fumi and the People Tree team Miki, Hiroe, Minakuchi and Riho arrive at 6am at Studio Lulu.

I’ve only slept for 1 hour – I’m beat, but we manage to drink a lot of green tea and start the shoot at 7am. I’ve been Art Directing on People Tree catalogues for 15 years so it was lovely when friends gave me the confidence to shoot myself. Of course, I’m not able to do it entirely myself. I need an assistant, Miki Alcalde has shot reportage for Getty and I met him on a People Tree assignment for ‘You Magazine.’ Since then Miki has done 8 assignments for People Tree in Bangladesh, India and Kenya documenting the lives of People Trees producers and their communities – and special visits by Jo Wood, Laura Bailey, Rika Sueyoshi and other VIPs too! He kindly offered to help me shoot fashion in India 18 months ago and here we are working together again today –with me behind the camera – and Miki helping me and teasing me a lot too!

A fashion shoot involves a huge amount of prep. Casting models, deciding on the styling (coordinating the clothes), shoes, accessories, leg wear, etc. Recruiting hair and make up artists. Finding a location – transport – etc. The list goes on and on.

Hiroe gets organised – so I can see what’s next and the catalogue pages

Hiroe joined People Tree with a lot of magazine fashion editorial experience and Minakuchi Atsushi and I have worked together for years.

model pics

Miki checks the images on the laptop as they come in… And is constantly taking the mickey out of me.

The shoot was AMAZING gorgeous models, fashion (our producer partners will be so proud!) and team work. All in natural light as I like it – 60 shots. Hiroe explains I’ve never taken that many shots in a day in my career yet.”

Job done we’re off to Fujino, in the South Japan Alps to see a friend. I’m utterly beat – but have had such a fun day! Thank you to all the team who helped make the impossible, possible today.

A day in the life of Safia Minney at People Tree Japan office.

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Everywhere I go the team call it ‘Safia week.’ That’s because there’s always a lot to do.

Here’s a sample of a day in my life in Tokyo:

8.30 – Meeting with the Directors to finalise the People Tree Fair Trade chocolate order – it’s made with Bolivian cocoa and muscavado brown sugar from the Philippines and is one of People Tree Japan’s most popular products. We talk about running events to raise awareness of the trade issues that sugar and cocoa farmers face in the developing world.

9.30 – Meet with the Comms team to discuss our 10^th and 20^th year anniversary in the UK and Japan – lots of campaigns and new things happening.

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10.30 – Off to the Bangladesh Embassy to meet Mr Manzurul Haque who is standing in as Ambassador to explain how the closure of the largest land port Benapole has forced cotton yarn prices to double, resulting in over 50,000 handweavers losing their jobs as prices of clothing become uncompetitive. We discuss the issue and have a nice cup of tea together and Mr Haque promises to send my letter to key people in Friday’s diplomatic bag. I wear my Fair Trade handwoven dress from Bangladesh designed by my favourite Japanese designer Mihara Yasuhiro.

12.30 A quick organic lunch with Misao our business development manager and Naoko our General Manager.

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13.30 We start the Spring/Summer 2011 collection meeting, going through samples, fitting them and making final tweaks to each handmade garment and the whole range. Building our collection is always an interesting challenge as we have such a diverse range of customers – department stores, boutiques and Fair Trade shops as well as our own stores and mail order customers. There’s a lot of feedback and ideas from our customers too! Next week I’ll be doing the same in London.

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15.30 - I meet with Marcia, from Bombolulu Workshops in Mombasa who is here visiting us from Kenya as a guest for World Fair Trade Day. We discuss quality issues and new techniques to develop new designs to bring work to the 150 physically challenged people they employ. The world recession has affected Bombolulu export sales and we need to help them now (link).

We’ve designed a new collection using the indigenous skills of hand twisted and hand beaten brass together with beautiful natural stones. The collection is top secret, so no more clues!

17.00 We have People Tree monthly team meeting together with Raihan Ali who’s visiting us from Swallows in Bangladesh. He tells us how Fair Trade makes a difference to women in the villages where Swallows employs 250 women. Raihan was asked how Swallows has changed since People Tree started working with them. He told us , “we had a small room with 17 handlooms and a dye unit. There was an iron roof and bamboo walls and one day the walls just blew away in a storm. Today we have a proper roof and walls and a new handicraft centre where we can employ 250 women. At the time People Tree started working with us we had just lost our only Fair Trade customer and people in the Fair Trade movement were saying there was only a future for Fair Trade foods and handicrafts not textiles. People Tree helped us to completely turn around our project and is still 70% of our sales today”

We also shared People Tree’s plans and activities from each department – there are nearly 50 in the team in Japan.

18.00 – I join the sales managers to talk about a design collaboration with a new baby/kids retail brand who want to partner with People Tree. They are very charming and very passionate and shake my hand a lot (which is very unusual in Japan. I got the royal treatment!) I feel very excited when big business wants to do the right thing! Let’s see…

19.00 – Dinner with Raihan, Naoko and Miki a great friend who is assisting me tomorrow for the People Tree Autumn Winter photoshoot. I have a glass of wine and lots of fun – but get home and can’t sleep – I’m so excited about the photoshoot tomorrow – I’m shooting!!

I sleep for ONE hour OMG! This is going to be great and I’m going to have to be full of energy and at my best. The next day is starting at 4am! And I still can’t sleep…

Fair Trade Fashion Show at Waseda University and People Tree, Japan, Christmas Party!

Hello from Waseda University in Japan and an amazing People Tree Christmas Party! (People Tree Japan style!)

The Waseda University Cafaire, a students Fair Trade group, invited me along to their Fair Trade Fashion Show with other guests Ai Tominaga, one of Japan’s leading models and a woman who is very active in social and environmental issues – and my friend Yoshiko Ikoma, who has been editor of Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire over the last 20 years! There was a great panel discussion about how young people can support Fair Trade fashion in Japan followed by a fantastic fashion show!

An exciting new People Tree concession in Ginza, Tokyo

I was in Japan opening a new People Tree concession in Ginza, Tokyo last week. It’s on the third floor of MOSAIC department store, so if you happen to be in Tokyo have a look round. We have two other shops; one in Omotesando, and our longest standing store of 12 years in Jiyugaoka close to our office.

Finding sanity in the mountains of Japan

To wake in a mountain house in the Japan Alps is a reminder as to why the sanity of cool air, no sound of cars, and a view of steep forested slopes disappearing into the mists rests the body and soul. For the past week in my flat in Tokyo I haven’t slept – or that’s how it feels.

Blue Moon Beach Party

People Tree customers, supporters and staff gathered at , Blue Moon , an eco-beach house in Hayama where bikinis and promoting environmental issues go hand in hand.

‘By Hand’ book signings and Spring Summer 2010 Exhibition in Japan

Christel signs our wall at People Tree’s shop in Omotesando Tokyo. You can buy the UK version of By Hand from the People Tree website here.

Japan – A busy week! And how to sell 1000 organic cotton t-shirts

Well, if I’m going to fly back and forth it had better be a busy week. I worked it out to off set my CO2 flying London to Tokyo and back I have to sell over1000 organic cotton t-shirts! (Growing organically sequesters 1.5 CO2 emission per acre, that’s 800 t-shirts per acre, at 2.5 tons of CO2 for a London – Tokyo return flight) So that’s why I have no choice but to work hard whenever I go overseas.

Fashion designer Mihara Yasuhiro interviews me!

It’s an unusually warm evening for mid-October and even though everyone in Tokyo is layered and booted, I’m bare armed in my Bora Aksu organic cotton drape top when I arrive at Mihara Yasuhiro’s office / studio / exhibition (oh, how I wish People Tree had such a lovely, big space in Tokyo!)

Safia on the box in Tokyo as her autobiography jumps to 26th on Amazon.

Murakami Ryu is one of my favourite writers so what a pleasure to be able to meet him when I appeared on Cambria Kyuden which aired on Tokyo TV this week. The co-presenter is so gorgeous she makes me feel like a “blob”!