WisBusiness: Former Lands’ End exec to launch new ‘fair trade’ clothing company on Monday

By Brian E. Clark

WisBusiness.com

MADISON – Fair Indigo, the brainchild of former Lands’ End executive and ecommerce guru Bill Bass, will launch its online business on Monday. A retail store in the Hilldale Mall will open Nov. 1.

The company’s motto is “Style With A Conscience.”

Fair Indigo’s aim, according to a statement on its Web site, is to “pioneer a change in the apparel industry” by putting the people who make the clothes first.

It’s a concept known as “fair trade,” which was first pushed by coffee consumers who wanted small-scale producers to get a better return for their work and crops. Activists say the ideal is for businesses to return one quarter of their profits back to growers in developing countries.

“We want to create stylish, high-quality clothes while paying a fair and meaningful wage to the people who produce them,” the company said on the Web site. “Instead of driving costs down, we’re trying to lift people up.”

To put workers first, a company spokeswoman said Fair Indigo has handpicked what it considers the best, most ethical factories around the globe and presented them with a new concept of paying workers a fair wage for making what it says are stylish and beautiful clothes.

“You couldn’t do this without the Internet,” said Anna Schryver, a Fair Indigo spokeswoman. “This will be very transparent.”

Jim Okamura, a senior partner and retail consultant with the J.C. Williams Group, said he thinks Bass has a good idea.

“It’s a leading-edge concept and fair trade is a macro trend that won’t go away,” he said. “But it’s anyone’s crystal ball how far it has penetrated consumers’ buying decisions.”

Still, Okamura said, if it strikes a chord with a niche market, there is a lot of money to be made.

The key, he said, is to offer good-looking clothing to people who like the idea that their duds are not being made in sweatshops.

“But you can’t sell clothing that is not stylish or isn’t quality,” he said.

Okamura said he believes Fair Indigo will aim for the middle- and upper-income markets and compete with the likes of Gap, J Crew, Talbots, Eddie Bauer and Banana Republic.

But he said he has no idea what dealing with fair trade factories will do to the cost of products or the new company’s profits.

“They are the only ones who know that,” Okamura said. “It’s pretty unique for a clothing company to base its image on the fair trade concept. Having Bass at the helm certainly can’t hurt. However, they still face all the hurdles of a startup.”

Marc Johnson, a spokesman for the Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea chain in Chicago, said his business pays even more than fair trade coffee companies.

“We work with farmers who we view as artisans and they are well paid,” he said. “They use organic methods and pick several times a year, instead of just once.”

Johnson said the result is high-quality coffee that customers like and can feel good about drinking.

“People vote with their feet,” he said. “Our coffee is expensive at $12.95 a pound. But it’s worth it all the way around. And I can feel great about coming to work, too.”