Safia's Blog

The bake off!

On Friday we were very sad to see our lovely Buyers Assistant Julia leave People Tree. She’s off to South Africa for an exciting new life and to celebrate her time with us we held a bake off.

Jenny adds some finishing touches to her creation

The bakers - what a spread!

Let's eat! The very serious task of judging begins

Turns out we’re a little competitive when it comes to cake, the design room in particular made a tremendous effort and swept the board with the medals, but everyones contributions were wonderful. Well done everyone, perhaps we should do this every week!

Everyone did so well but here are the winning five, well done ladies excellent work.

Everyone did so well but here are the winning four, well done ladies excellent work.

Bye bye Julia, we'll miss you!

From Lands End to John O Groats

Freddie set's out

Our friend Freddie left the South London suburbs yesterday to get a train down to Lands End. He’s cycling all the way up to Jon O Groats and People Tree are his clothing sponsor for the ride. We love Freddie, he’s so clever. His view on cycling clothes is that they should be comfy and not synthetic and we agree!

Safe travels Freddie!

Meeting Vivienne Westwood

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The first thing Vivienne and her husband compliment me on is my 100% Fair Trade and organic cotton dress. It’s a collaboration that we did with Eley Kishimoto, the masters of print and I love it because it’s so fitted.
I met Vivienne yesterday, at her studio in Battersea to interview her for my new book Naked Fashion. She is incredibly beautiful up close and when she looks at you she really listens, sometimes biting her finger in concentration.
She’s even more preachy than me believe it or not! – You can’t stop her mid sentence. She’s not only one of the most amazing fashion designers of our time, she’s also a passionate environmentalist, campaigning to stop climate change chaos. She’s wearing a beautiful 1950s silhouette dress when I meet her and talks passionately about how we’ve forgotten how to dress.
After asking her two questions, she can’t stop herself and asks me a dozen questions about Fair Trade – how it works, how many farmers and artisans we provide work for? When I tell her 3800 she’s impressed.

She’s also madly passionate about handicraft and how it brings people together with a sense of community, shared belonging and pride. At this point she asks if I’ve read her manifesto – I said I had, but was too shy to add that I wasn’t sure that I’d entirely understood it, though I’d welcome a couple of days to talk with her about life, the universe and everything – with a sprinkle of fashion thrown in! She could be my new best friend but that’s because I like strong women who speak their mind, tell you when your button’s undone and share their tips for success!

Naked Fashion will be published in September 2011 with New Internationalist.

My week in Mombasa, Kenya

Usually I have designers with me, but this time everyone’s super busy – so I decided to attend the WFTO conference alone! Mad! As I told you in my last blog I barely had time to sleep.

I love fashion and trying something new, so I decided to produce a People Tree Bombolulu Workshops Fashion Show – 30 minutes before we were still finalising the outfits – OMG.

Anyway, follow me around the WFTO Conference, the voting group photo. The market place full of wonderful, Fair Trade craft – watch me design dresses at Bombolulu, styling the fashion show and stressing out!

WFTO (World Fair Trade Organisation) Conference, Mombasa, Kenya

Safia and Geoff from Traid Aid New Zealand at the WFTO conference

Safia, Geoff and Craig ('CAJUNZ') from Traid Aid New Zealand and Ten Thousand Villages USA

Usually a few of us from People tree attend the biannual WFTO conference – there’s so much to do! There are over 100 Fair Trade organsiations there – but this time I’m solo! So I’m developing new products with Fair Trade groups at lunch breaks, talking about Fair Trade retailing in the US and New Zealand at tea break and trying not to fall asleep reading background papers on everything from how we strengthen WFTO Fair Trade systems, strategic direction, budgets, accounts, etc, etc before falling asleep under my mosquito net.

Where? I’m in Mombassa, it’s very warm although it’s winter for Kenya and the locals are shivering in their cardigans, for us British we’re as happy as can be – only problem is my is a frizz ball hair due to the humidity.

Who am I? CAJANZ, a European or an Asian? As People Tree Japan and People Tree UK are members of WFTO I belong in two different regional groups. Europe – easy and CAJANZ (Canada, America, Japan… err Australia and New Zealand) we’re a tiny group whose motivation is to sell more Fair Trade products – The Europeans are much more political and into advocacy – so I love having a leg in both camps as it were – although I played on the CAJUN football team. I was little benefit to them though, having not played football since teaching my son at the age of two! I used to join my Asia regional talks before as I spend more time with producer groups than anyone else and after all Japan is in Asia when I last checked the map.

Can’t shut me up! – I’m an advocate for the WFTO Fair Trade system having piloted it in Bangladesh and Nepal, it helps Fair Trade groups develop capacity to compete and win a market share. So I’m very vocal all conference and delighted that the new Executive Committee with President friend Rudi Dalvai of CTM gets the vote from the floor to steam ahead with it. Only problem is when Rudi, now President, is too busy to buy me shampoo and conditioner – my hair further revolts and by the time I get home I’m so fed up with my frizzy hair I cut it off myself!

Me in the front middle all folded up

Safia the shopkeeper – People Tree store in Tokyo

15^th May 2011

People Tree shop - Omotesando, central Tokyo

We have three stores in Tokyo and today I got to play at being shop keeper. I love being in the People Tree shops, meeting customers and seeing how they pick up and look at the products we make in villages around the world. I’m thinking – If only I could show you the place it was made, if only I could introduce you to the person who made it!

Saf shooting street Fair Trade fashion

Rika, Yoshiko and Safia

PR Manager Michiko, Rika and Yoshiko

Everyone wears People Tree so well in Tokyo too. So I did some street photography of People Tree customers wearing Fair Trade fashion for our new book – and caught up with old friends ex-editor of Marie Claire – Ikoma Yoshiko, Activist and Founder of Ecokoro, Maekita and Rika Sueyoshi, TV reporter and People Tree’s new Ambassador and front person! So many university students studying Fair Trade, new economics and international affairs came to meet me too – I barely had time to eat my o bento (lunch box).

Can't get enough of our Laura Ashley collaboration with People Tree

Talking to university students

Saf eats lunch at 4pm

World Fair Trade Day in Japan – a paradigm shift?!

14^th May 2011

600 people gathered for our Fair Trade, sustainable economics and low energy event in Tokyo. I arrived that morning, had a shower and then went straight to the event at Eco Plaza – this amazing wooden cube event space in the absolute centre of town run by social entrepreneur and ex-adman Ikeda san.

After the earthquake we decided to work with other Fair Trade organisations, farmers groups and activists in Japan to get the message out there about what a low carbon and sustainable society looks like.

Not surprisingly awareness level of a non-nuclear based economy and society have increased massively. Earlier this year 40% of the Japanese public said they would buy environmentally friendly products and products that make a positive social contribution, today that figure has risen to a stunning 70%. This could well be the point of a paradigm shift for Japan – later I did an interview with the Japan Economics daily newspaper ’Nihon Keizan Shinbun’ about just that. The silver lining of a dark cloud!

People Tree Teepee – adventures on the Autumn Winter 2011 photoshoot

Jon, Jerome and Amrnad infront of the PT teepee!

Jon, Jerome and Armand in front of the People Tree teepee!

We’re in the South of France this week shooting our Autumn Winter 2011 catalogue – up and out of Carole’s wonderful gite by 6.50am to catch the best light – its so beautiful but absolutely freezing that early!

As usual the People Tree photography team are on fine form – Jonathon Rose assisting me on the photography, Gemma on styling, Gail on hair and make up and not forgetting Armand whose capturing the lot on video! And the gorgeous models Paulina, Hannah, Yuri and Jay of course. We had a slight crisis yesterday when my camera decided to give up, fortunately it was only a temporary glitch, easily solved by some new leads – phew!

Mustn’t forget to thank the People Tree Head Office team too who are working hard behind the scenes – Bryony, Jerome and Hiroe from our Japan team. It’s great fun but hard work as usual with lots of long days and not quite the three hour siesta-style lunch breaks that the team were hoping for!

Can’t wait to show you the pics!

Donation for Japan from Kumundini Welfare Trust, Bangladesh

Mr Rajib Prasad Shaha, Chairman and Managing Director of Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal (BD) Limited, Bangladesh handed a donation of $500.00 to Safia Minney, Founder and CEO of Fair Trade Company Ltd (People Tree Japan), with the kind words, “We would like to help the people of Japan in any way we can with our prayers and with our great respect for a great friend to Bangladesh. We hope that their suffering will lighten as the weeks go by and we hope that they can rebuild their country and their great nation in the same way that they did after the Second World War. We have collected some money here from Kumudini Welfare Trust and we know that People Tree Japan is the best way for us to get the money to the hands of the people who need it most. Japan, you have been a great friend to Bangladesh and we only hope we can be some help to you in this difficult time as your friend!”

Very many thanks to all at Kumudini and to all those who have sent kind messages of support.

Report from Tokyo

I wanted to share with you this quick update from Yoko, one of our shop managers in Tokyo.

“People Tree Jiyugaoka + Omotesando shops reopened yesterday. There are still only a few people in downtown Tokyo because of the blackout.

Here is a picture of my flat after the earthquake! Now, I’m really thinking I was lucky to have been working at the Omotesando-shop then. If I had been in my room, it might have been really scary!

We’ll have to be really “tough” for a whille, but I’ll keep working with a smile!” Yoko Yoshida, People Tree Japan

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