11 Celebrities Who Support Fair Trade, From Emma Watson To Lauren Conrad

Co-Founders of The Little Market, Lauren Conrad and Hannah Skvarla spoke with Haley Goldberg of the LA Times about their fair trade online store. In the interview, Conrad told Goldberg that the artisans they empower respond to the opportunity to work differently. “I think that it’s as different as each group is. They want to work, and nobody’s looking for a handout even though they need help; they want to help themselves. That’s what’s so great about this is [the artisans] are creating things that are really beautiful that we would buy, and people are able to while also supporting other women,” Conrad said.

America Ferrera partnered with the Anchal Project on a collection of fair trade scarves after being inspired by the brand’s program, which “provides creative jobs to support women out of the sex trade.”

Ali Hewson explained why she and husband Bono wanted to launch EDUN, a socially conscious clothing line for men and women. Alive reported Hewson said, “I want to be able to buy clothes for me and my family knowing that no one was exploited in the process, from the concept to the finished product on the rails.”

In 2013, Meredith Lepore, the editor at large of Levo League, spoke with Hanna Skvarla, co-Founder of The Little Market, about career advice and international women empowerment. In the interview, Skvlarla said, “The issues of fair wages, fair trade, and safe workplace conditions may seem abstract from the United States, but become a reality when you meet the artisans in their homes, workshops, and community centers. As customers, we are able to help the artisans to preserve traditional skills passed down across the generations and to improve their communities by commitment to these standards. We are humbled by the women we work with and grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in their future.”

In his speech to the 2000 Democratic National Convention, former Vice President Al Gore said, “We must welcome and promote truly free trade. But I say to you: It must be fair trade. We must set standards to end child labor, to prevent the exploitation of workers and the poisoning of the environment.”

In a conversation with Business of Fashion, hosted by editor-in-chief Imran Amed, Indigenous reports fashion designer Stella McCartney told Amed, “Every industry has to be mindful of how they go forward in their business and sadly luxury fashion is incredibly harmful — and fashion in general. And it needs to just a get a bit more modern and man up a bit.”

As part of her non-profit organization, Every Mother Counts, supermodel Christy Turlington created episodes called ”Threading: Driving Fashion Forward.” In the final episode of the series, Turlington told model Amber Valletta, “Looking at women’s rights in the countries where we work…one of the greatest advances in the last 20 years has been that more girls and women have access to education and financial opportunity to earn for themselves, to earn more for their families…They march to the factory in the morning, those who work in the garment industry, and you see them…you see these beautiful colors through the street. This is something we should celebrate…When you see the flip side of that: They’re not receiving healthcare, they’re in cramped spaces that are poorly built, and we’ve seen in in Rana Plaza, we’ve seen it in numerous places in Bangladesh and other places in the world where fires break out, hundreds and thousands of people are dying because of unsafe conditions. That’s the part that, like, ‘no, we have to do better.’ One preventable death is a death too many…It’s like the prices of the garments go up and the labor goes down—that’s the part I just don’t understand. The margins are enormous. The idea that human beings are being sacrificed for that margin is just completely unethical.”

All of Lauren Bush Lauren’s FEED bags, whose profits go towards fighting hunger across the globe, are made “at a fair trade factory that we have audited by a third party,” Bush told Inc in 2010.

On January 1, 2015, the World Day of Peace, Pope Frances said in his ”No Longer Slaves, But Brothers and Sisters“ speech, “Together with the social responsibility of businesses, there is also the social responsibility of consumers. Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply an economic — act…I invite everyone, in accordance with his or her specific role and responsibilities, to practice acts of fraternity towards those kept in a state of enslavement. Let us ask ourselves, as individuals and as communities, whether we feel challenged when, in our daily lives, we meet or deal with persons who could be victims of human trafficking, or when we are tempted to select items which may well have been produced by exploiting others…”

In their 2010 press release, when Ben & Jerry’s committed to ”go fully Fair Trade across its entire global flavor portfolio”, co-Founder Jerry Greenfield said, “Fair Trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of Fair Trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.”