Selling to the rich - benefiting the poor

The environment, the climate and the poor in developing countries feature high on the agenda of Norwegian company FIN when producing its fashion wear.

The fashion industry has come under the media spotlight with regard to issues such as working conditions, minimum wages and employee rights in developing countries. And the media are not alone in focusing on those issues. The clothing companies themselves are too. The entire industry is focusing more and more on being socially responsible and environmentally aware.

One company that has dedicated itself to ethical trading is FIN, a Norwegian firm which specialises in combining luxury fashion with socially-responsible and environmentally-friendly production methods. The company makes ready-to-wear clothing at the slightly more expensive end of the market.

Investment in CO2 reduction
In addition to using organically-produced cotton and following organic production methods, FIN also observes fair trade principles and buys so-called carbon credits from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

CDM is a scheme under the international climate agreement, the Kyoto Protocol. It gives companies in western countries the opportunity to invest in CO2 reduction solutions in developing countries instead of their own country. The advantage is that it is often a lot cheaper to reduce CO2 emissions in a developing country than in an industrialised nation.

The core idea of the scheme is that a western country can offset CO2 reductions made by the country in a developing country against the country's own CO2 account. In FIN's case, the company has invested in renewable energy projects in the countries where its clothes are made.

Wild silk
The foundations of FIN were laid in 2004, when a graduate of the Norwegian School of Management and a newly qualified sociologist from the University of Oslo decided to establish their own consultancy, EtikkTakk. They were later joined by a designer who converted their ecological and ethical ideas into fashion and design.

One of the new ideas currently being launched by the company is wild silk, which is gathered by the weavers themselves. The difference between wild silks and the traditional, cultivated silks is that the silk moths at silk farms are killed at larval stage. When wild silk is gathered, the larvae have the chance to develop into silk moths.