High style and high morals at Paris ethical fashion show

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2005

PARIS (AFP) — Gavin Lawson was busy arranging his organic hemp and cotton T-shirts at the Ethical Fashion Show, which unfolded in Paris last weekend on the sidelines of the mainstream ready-to-wear shows that upend the French capital twice a year.

His UK-based brand, The Hemp Trading Company, supplies clothing for major retailers in Great Britain under the slogan "urban eco wear for the street." The hemp is grown on small family farms in north-eastern China, the organically-grown cotton comes from Turkey.

And the T-shirts -- made in China -- are manufactured by people over 18 years old who are paid real living wages.

"Ethical fashion is a fair link between developing countries and the West," Lawson said. "Now we want to expand onto the European continent,...