numanu label of love is a Paris-based organisation founded by Olivia Lalonde (British) and Emmanuel Walliser (French), which aims to create contemporary, feminine clothes for stylish women who care about the conditions under which the garments they buy are produced. The clothes are conceived in Paris (by designer Anika Skärström) and produced by six partner organisations in India and two in Cambodia. numanu strives to ensure that our social and environmental principles are respected in as much of the supply chain as possible. Fair remuneration, non-exploitative working conditions, support for disadvantaged groups and communities and respect for the environment are at the heart of our approach.
Ethical issues addressed:
• Fair trade – numanu is working towards developing a supply chain that is fair trade in as many of the production stages as possible. By fair trade, we mean that our producer partners work in conditions of dignity for a living wage; that through interaction with numanu their skills are enhanced, allowing them greater market access; and that through the money they earn and the return of a share of numanu’s future profits, they are empowered to direct their own development as individuals and as part of a wider community. • Organic / sustainable / environmentally friendly – numanu seeks to limit our impact on the environment as much as possible. All of our clothing is made with natural fibres (wool, cotton, silk, linen) and wherever possible we source organically. Most of our cotton is already supplied by an organic, fair trade farming programme based in Andhra Pradesh and our Indian silk and angora wool are cultivated using traditional methods, though do not yet carry any organic certification. We use natural and vegetable dyes for some of our fabrics and – where this is not possible – the dyes are always AZO-free and respect European environmental norms. • Education / skill development – through our work we seek to revive and/or preserve traditional artisanal skills such as hand-weaving, hand embroidery and block-printing. We also particularly choose partners who invest in the education of their workers (literacy, numeracy, health and vocational skills) and we bring our designer to India each season so that she can give training to the producers on essential details such as cut and finishing. • Right to association – this is an area that we are still working on with some of our partners, but a number of others, particularly the Indian handweaving groups and our garmenting partner in Bangalore, are organised as cooperatives with shared decision-making and profit-sharing structures. • Social development – numanu’s partners in India and Cambodia come in all shapes and sizes, from a small charitable trust with 4 employees to NGOs to socially-oriented private enterprises. All of these organisations, however, share a strong social commitment, whether promoting women’s rights, integrating differently-abled workers into their structures, supporting victims of violence, or creating opportunities for sustainable income generation among marginalised communities.
Certifications/standards:
• In October 2006, numanu launched at the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris, where we were unanimously chosen for the Ethical Fashion Show Award by a panel of seven judges from the world of fair trade and fashion, in recognition of our strong social and environmental credentials and the compatibility between our approach and the EFS Charter of Good Conduct. • In India, the fairtrade in-conversion-to-organic cotton that numanu buys is produced under a programme certified by FLO and SKAL, and we have recently started working with an organic vegetable dyeing group that is also SKAL-certified. • In Cambodia, one of our partners is an IFAT member. • However, ‘industry standards’ can be difficult to apply in a context where so much of numanu’s production takes place in non-industrial structures. We are therefore starting to work with a pioneering organic farming family in Southern India who have developed appropriate monitoring systems for small farm organic agriculture. During 2007, numanu aims to work with our fabric- and garment-making partners to adapt these systems for use within their diverse structures as a way of monitoring their social and environmental practices. in-conversion-to-organic cotton that numanu buys is produced under a programme certified by FLO and SKAL, and we have recently started working with an organic vegetable dyeing group that is also SKAL-certified. • In Cambodia, one of our partners is an IFAT member. • However, ‘industry standardsÂ’ can be difficult to apply in a context where so much of numanuÂ’s production takes place in non-industrial structures. We are therefore starting to work with a pioneering organic farming family in Southern India who have developed appropriate monitoring systems for small farm organic agriculture. During 2007, numanu aims to work with our fabric- and garment-making partners to adapt these systems for use within their diverse structures as a way of monitoring their social and environmental practices.• In October 2006, numanu launched at the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris, where we were unanimously chosen for the Ethical Fashion Show Award by a panel of seven judges from the world of fair trade and fashion, in recognition of our strong social and environmental credentials and the compatibility between our approach and the EFS Charter of Good Conduct. • In India, the fairtrade in-conversion-to-organic cotton that numanu buys is produced under a programme certified by FLO and SKAL, and we have recently started working with an organic vegetable dyeing group that is also SKAL-certified. • In Cambodia, one of our partners is an IFAT member. • However, ‘industry standards’ can be difficult to apply in a context where so much of numanu’s production takes place in non-industrial structures. We are therefore starting to work with a pioneering organic farming family in Southern India who have developed appropriate monitoring systems for small farm organic agriculture. During 2007, numanu aims to work with our fabric- and garment-making partners to adapt these systems for use within their diverse structures as a way of monitoring their social and environmental practices.
