Two Canterbury University students have started a company making clothes that are a better fit for their values.
Samantha Jones Photo: Supplied
While working in the Air Force Samantha Jones starting questioning where her uniform had come from, and if it had been made ethically.
She knew that garment workers were often not paid fairly for the work they did, and wanted a more ethically-minded and socially-conscious option.
“I think it’s people just generally just don’t really think about where their clothing comes from, I know that I didn’t a few years ago.”
Last year, Samantha and fellow Canterbury University student Hannah Duder cofounded their ethical business called Little Yellow Bird – a company that supplies businesses with ethically-produced uniforms.
Hi Samantha! Why did you decide to start your company?
Because I ate organic products and wanted to support fair trade food products, I wanted to do the same for my corporate clothing - and there was just nothing available.
The reason I noticed it was because I’d previously been in the Air Force, where I’d just been provided a uniform - so I didn’t have a choice as to what it was.
When I moved into the commercial sector and was buying my own products, I noticed that there wasn’t anything [ethically made] available and so we started with our business shirts.
We were originally trying to sell to individuals and we realised that targeting businesses was more effective and also [there was] more opportunity to have a bigger impact. Now we just focus entirely on providing uniforms to corporate companies.
For people who don’t know much about ethical clothing, can you explain the difference between ethical and unethical?
It’s really hard to know often if the clothing that you’re buying generally has been produced in unethical or ethical conditions because it’s a very big spectrum.
But if you’re buying a five dollar t-shirt, it’s almost impossible for that to have been produced ethically because the amount of time it actually takes and the material costs … because there are so many different people, they can’t have been paid more than a dollar and hour, basically.
A lot of the big issues are young children working in the fashion industry, so people 16 and under is quite common, unsafe working conditions and then some people are also just not paid at all.
It’s almost impossible to know, so if you support a brand that has done audits, or has some certification, or actively visits their factories, it really provides greater certainty around the conditions that the clothing has been produced in.
Do you think companies think enough about ethical clothing?
I think it’s not just companies, I think it’s people just generally just don’t really think about where their clothing comes from. I know that I didn’t a few years ago.
People just don’t really know, or don’t think about it. I mean even down to things that are New Zealand made, people think “oh, that’s made in New Zealand” but then, it’s only taking that small part into the picture because where the fabric was made or grown, the raw materials were grown, that often has labour implications as well.
Looking at the whole supply chain is what we do, our tee shirts and hoodies for example - we’ve visited the farms where that cotton has been grown, and then we know the whole process where it’s been ginned and dyed and woven and finally stitched.
*Samantha Jones and Hannah Duder are speaking at Festival For The Future, which is on in Auckland from Sept 23-25.
*Interview edited for clarity and brevity.
