That’s right everyone! On Saturday, May 11th, the world will come together to celebrate the contribution that Fair Trade makes to alleviating poverty, fighting climate change and curbing economic crisis. From Norway (where they will be trying to break the record for most people to fit into an oversized pair of underwear) to Kenya (where the Kenyan Federation for Alternative Trade will be planting trees), governments, NGOs and individuals will be doing their part to raise awareness.
Threads of Peru was based on and continues to hold true to the principles of fair trade. Through the web and international sales, we seek to connect indigenous Andean weavers of Peru to a global market for their craft. We buy hand-woven textiles directly from the weavers at fair market value. The weavers themselves set this price and we receive no discount. This way, the weavers have their wages up front and they make their own decisions about how to invest it.
Secretary for the Rumira Sandormayo weaving association, Juliana Huaman Quispe, enjoying a natural dyeing workshop!
Once purchased, Threads of Peru resells the textiles online with a markup that will cover maintenance and administration. Beyond these costs, all other profits are invested back into the communities through projects, which are carried out in cooperation with the community members. Among the activities that we take part in, we support marketing projects that will help guide the weavers in creating products that appeal to modern consumers, while complimenting and preserving their traditional methods of weaving.
Some of the beautiful textiles featured in our "Home" collection. Check them out online and make your World Fair Trade Day purchase!
By purchasing from us, you will not only be directly supporting the preservation of the ancient Peruvian weaving tradition and the women who practice it, but will also be contributing to the global fair trade movement. Visit our Store to see the weaver's work!
As all of you avid Threads of Peru followers well know, this week we have been busy bees down here in Cusco for our sales week on ChatBasket.com. Meeting with the weavers from Rumira Sandormayo and Chaullaqocha, we have been reporting online live from Ollantaytambo to answer questions and comments from our customers and interested parties from around the world. It has certainly been exciting and we’re looking forward to these next two days that our products will be featured on this innovative shopping website.
And today we have even more exciting news - a special guest in our chatroom this afternoon! James Roberts, representative of Indigenous clothing in Santa Rosa, California, will be joining us online to chat about many important topics that are central to our and their mission - organic clothing, fair trade and eco-friendly, low impact production.
Indigenous Clothing began much as we did, but slightly before our time - with founders Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds making an unforgettable trip to South America in 1993. After discovering for themselves the uniqueness and timeless beauty of the knitting and weaving traditions, they decided to pioneer a business model that supports the artisans of their clothing and the environment. It’s an inspirational story that we’re looking forward to hearing more about today - we hope that you will also join us to hear their comments and questions.
For more information on Indigenous clothing, please follow this link to their website - http://www.indigenous.com - or link to their Facebook page from ours!
