Safia Minney is a social entrepreneur and British writer. This beautiful black-haired woman is the daughter of Mauritian father and Swiss mother was born in England in 1964. She is the founder of People Tree, a fashion label that pioneered sustainably and Fair Trade fashion that has a mission to provide beautiful clothing to its customers. Safia Minney is also known as a Fair Trade speaker and campaigner, as well as ethical fashion.
Safia initially did not jump in the clothing business People Tree. She began her career as a marketing and publishing employee. She worked in the office of Creative Review magazine for four years and it was at that place that Safia developed her passion in the field of creativity and communication. She became very excited at the use of the greatness of communication for social good by raising social awareness and environmental issues.
Her interest in the environment grew after Safia had solo backpacking for three months in Bali and Myanmar. On her return from there, Safia set up her own business engaged in social marketing consulting with New Statesman and Friends of the Earth. Since moving to Tokyo, Japan, in 1990 with her husband, Safia began studying Japanese before finally working in a publishing company, Amnesty International and then moved to the Body Shop.
Her career then continued in Japan. Safia feels there is an opportunity to expand environmental awareness and Fair Trade in Japan. She then embarked on a Global Village, an environmental campaign and voluntary group awareness at home. The movement focuses on all aspects of sustainable living. From the group, consisting of students and friends, Safia began producing and launching organic listings – information about ‘greenery’ which Safia believed was needed by people to live life with more sustainable style.
Together with her team, Safia Minney started to design and sell Fair Trade products at various festivals in Japan and began to get requests from stockists. In 1995 Fair Trade Company was formed as a limited company by moving Global Village trading activities to new companies. A shop opened in the famous fashionable Jiyugaoka area and in 1996 she became a member of WFTO, World Fair Trade Organization.
For nine years Safia Minney runs the Fair Trade Company from her long-standing home taking up more space than her family. Along with the increasing number of requests and sales, in 2000 the company Safia has grown to 17 members of employees who try to coordinate the making of catalogs, sales to 500 stores, events and campaigns. It was then that Safia decided to open a commercial office and in 2000 also the People Tree was formed. The name is registered as a label of Fair Trade Company.
The DNA of the People Tree is based on a better trading system campaign that considers human rights and environmental innovation in its production. People Tree is the first company to have certified clothing made in the developing world. They are committed to empowering the poor, protecting the environment, and changing the world for the better.
Safia believes that the secrets of sustainability and prosperity in society exist for the peasants and workers in the developing world – along with their people – not the big companies, especially the pseudo-firms. She also argues that synthetic is a dangerous material for the environment because the biodegradation process takes hundreds of years.
For Safia, working in a sustainable style is something extraordinary. She can work closely with Fair Trade producers, view sustainable materials and environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques. She believes that change is something that needs to happen both for individuals and groups. Everyone should be responsible for what they buy and where they buy it. According to her, it is also important to be known by the people around.
In an interview conducted by Safia Minney, she said that caring about the environment is something cool to do. If you want to be one of those cool people, then do not hesitate to start caring about the environment, one way is to change your fashion becomes more sustainable. We carry the story of the people who make our clothes and accessories.
