Interviews

Liz Alig: Indianapolis Fair Trade Fashion

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Liz Alig logo and dress

Sometimes I feel like I’m pretty on top of the fair trade game. Then I find out something like this: There’s a fair trade fashion line that is designed in Indianapolis that I knew nothing about! Mind = blown. Liz Alig is a clothing company committed to fashion-forward designs and ethical manufacturing practices.

I got in touch with founder Elizabeth Roney and she kindly answered my questions about how Liz Alig got started and what its mission and products are all about.

Tell us the story of how you started Liz Alig.

The starting of Liz Alig did not really happen overnight. I had the opportunity to visit several factories in developing countries where I first put a face behind the people who make our clothes.  This got me interested in fair trade and eco fashion, but as a designer I had trouble finding clothing that I wanted to wear that was made ethically. So, I decided to experiment recycling fabric (because fair trade fabric was hard to find) and designing my own very small line of dresses.

Isabella dress from Liz Alig

Describe your design process. Are your designs influenced by the upcycled fabrics you use? By the capabilities of your producer groups?

Some of the items I design are inspired by the fabrics and other times the design idea comes first, but absolutely the capabilities of the producer groups we work with come into play. The fabrics, machines, and skills of the groups we work come into play in every area of the design process. For example some groups do not have access to zippers so we have to get creative with other forms of closures.

What’s one of your favorite pieces from your most recent collection, and why?

I love the ikat plaid fabric that is woven in Guatemala. Our Fall 2014 collection has some crop pants in this fabric. Look for the Andrea Pants this Fall!

Maggie shorts from Liz Alig

I loved reading the stories of your global partners. How do you manage your relationships with all of these groups and measure the positive impact you have on them?

The groups that we choose to work with each have their own social impact engrained in their mission. We could not do what we do without these groups, because we can not have a separate facility in all these locations. We manage our relationship mainly by email, but sometimes we visit the organization to help train them on new designs or techniques. Our orders help to sustain these groups as well as give them advanced training.

Chinna skirt from Liz Alig

How do people in Indiana usually react when you explain your business model? Have you encountered any fair trade skeptics, or are people generally supportive?

Most people are very supportive. There has been a growing interest for eco-based and giving back companies, this helps with the initial understanding of the idea. There is a little bit of a learning curve in understanding fair trade and what this means and why it is important.

Are you a member of any fair trade organizations or certifications?

Member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Pieced leggings from Liz Alig

What’s next for Liz Alig?

We are having conversations with a few big box retailers, which is exciting!  Also, we are considering expanding into an accessories market.

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Liz Alig products are available on their website and at boutiques across the country. I’m excited to track down some of their stuff! (I love the teal skirt shown above. Pockets for the win!)

Spread Kindness with the Be Nice Box

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Array of cards, tiny cookies, notes and stickers

Today I’m excited to feature an inspiring project called the Be Nice Box that aims to help people spread kindness in their daily lives. My sister featured the Be Nice Box on her blog several weeks ago and when I read the post I said to myself, “My readers would love that too!” The Be Nice Box is the creation of Diana Neidecker, and I asked her to explain her idea in her own words.

What is a Be Nice Box?

The Be Nice Box is a monthly subscription box service, encouraging others to ‘spread their own kindness.’ You can think of the box as a ‘random acts of kindness toolkit’ that you receive in the mail each month. Each month, we pick a new theme & all of the acts of kindness revolve around the theme. Each box contains a list of 12 good deeds that can be completed throughout the month. Also inside each box, are four cool, handmade, sustainable items to help complete a few of the items on the list. And finally, every subscriber receives a small gift for themselves, as a thank you for helping to save the planet. We also donate $1 to charity for each box sold.

Monthly subscription box services are everywhere right now & as far as I know, this is the only box on the market where the items inside are for the benefit of others. Most box services give you items for yourself {clothes, make-up, food}, but the Be Nice Box is all about spreading kindness and being good to others.

Why did you decide to create this business?

Last April, after the Boston Bombings, I wrote a blog post about 26.2 acts of kindness we can complete to support those who were affected. The post got a large amount of traffic and it really made me think. Whenever tragedy strikes, we all decide to focus on kindness. We commit to hugging our children, to not freak out about the dirty socks on the bathroom floor and to call our grandmas more often. The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. So, I decided to launch a new blog called ‘A Year of Minnesota Nice.’ The goal is to complete 365 acts of kindness and to document the journey ; I am almost 200 days in and the project has, without a doubt, changed the way I view the universe.

This fall, the blog started picking up steam around the same time I decided to leave a 12-year career in education. I knew that I wanted to turn my blog into a business, but had no idea what that looked like.

One night, my partner Blake & I were out walking our dog and we were just brainstorming business ideas. As we were chatting, I said ‘I just want to find a way for people to spread their own kindness.’ And *boom* the Be Nice Box was born! We basically ran home & that night, I created a business plan.

The idea hit me on October 1st, I launched the website and sign-ups on October 15th and the November boxes went out two weeks later!

How do you incorporate fair trade and/or ethically-made items into the boxes?

Sustainability is extremely important to me as a human, so I knew that when I launched this business, I wanted to hold on to that. Everything we do revolves around ethical practices and sustainability.

The boxes and the address tags we use were both purchased from a surplus store. Some local businesses shut their doors and we were able to purchase thousands of labels and hundreds of boxes for pennies. Our purchase helped support a local business, and kept all those items from being thrown away.

The majority of our office supplies and packing materials are second-hand and made in the US.

Each month, I deliver all of the local {Minneapolis} boxes and mail the rest. In the winter months, I drive a hybrid car around the city and in the summer, all boxes will be delivered by bike. The post office is nearby, so most months, I load up the boxes {anywhere from 40 to 70} and walk to the post office.

The artists and businesses that we partner with also value sustainability. The products we include in the boxes are from companies who treat their employees, manufacturers and the environment with respect. I like to think that the Be Nice Box has a powerful impact that goes beyond practicing the kindness in the box.

Since launching, we have worked with awesome companies such as Mama Ganache Chocolates, Equal Exchange, Project 7, LIFEline fashion and Wild Harvest Organic.

The Be Nice Box has existed for six months now, and I am proud to say that with each passing month, I am becoming more passionate and excited to share this experience with companies, artists and people who truly want to create a better planet!

Dog laying on floor with cardboard boxes and colored paper

Diana’s pup Daphne helps assemble the April Be Nice Boxes

Explain how Be Nice Box partners with charities.

Each month, we pick a new charity and donate $1 from every box sold to them. Our charity always aligns with the theme, so as you are out in your community spreading kindness, its in the back of your mind that your good deeds are making a difference in of the parts of the world, as well.

Since launching, we have supported :

  • Ten Thousand Things: MPLS-based theatre troupe that provides free performances in prisons, homeless shelters & housing projects.
  • Himalayan Cataract Project: They provide low-cost eye surgery to people in developing nations
  • Open Arms MN: They grow, cook and deliver healthy, organic meals to Twin Cities residents who are living with terminal illnesses
  • Blessings Basket Project: They provide on the job skills & training for women in poverty to be entrepreneurs, create and sell their own baskets and lift their families out of poverty
  • Project Success: Local MPLS organization who motivate and encourage all students in Minneapolis and St. Paul to set goals and then offer resources to achieve them
  • LIFEline Fashion: Started by a small group of women in Kenya; all mothers of children with special needs. they create hand-made items to pull their families from poverty

Can you give a us a sneak peek into what will be in the next box?

The theme for the May box will be ‘feathers & fur!’ I have been planning this box for over six months and am super excited for it to launch! All of the good deeds in this months box will be about animals ; animals that provide for us {BEES!}, ways to support animals {local shelters and rescues} and more! There are a limited number of boxes each month; there will be 70 boxes available for May & they will ship April 27th.

The Be Nice Box offers one-, three-, six- and 12-month subscriptions with free shipping and is available in the US only. Gift subscriptions are also available.

Thanks to Diana for sharing her vision for spreading kindness! How do you try to spread kindness in your life? Tell us about it in the comments!

The Inside Scoop about the Fair Trade Federation Conference

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The Fair Trade Federation Annual Conference in Indianapolis is rapidly approaching! To get all the details on the event, which will be held downtown from April 1-3, I interviewed Suzanne Cotter from the Fair Trade Federation.

Fair Trade Federation 2014 Annual Conference | April 1-3, Indianapolis, IN | Photo of Indianapolis downtown Monument Circle

Fair for All: A main focus of the conference is on the business side of fair trade. What would a person who is not part of a fair trade business get out of the conference?

Suzanne Cotter: First and foremost, the Conference is always a wonderful opportunity for those newer to the industry to meet a special group of people who are doing the very best work in fair trade… the kind of direct, in-depth work the Fair Trade Federation stands for! There’s really no other gathering of fair trade businesses quite like this and the learning and networking opportunities are boundless. We recommend the Conference to anyone interested in working with artisans in specific regions, staring their own fair trade business one day, working in fair trade product design and development, or anything else that falls under the fair trade umbrella… many Conference attendees this year have had foundational roles in bringing the fair trade movement to the U.S.

Who are some of the speakers and presenters you’re excited to have at the conference?

This year we’re thrilled for our plenary speaker Jonathan Rosenthal, Executive Director of Cooperative Coffees, consultant at Just Works Consulting, and co-founder of Equal Exchange and Oke USA. We’re also excited for the expanded list of sessions for businesses working primarily in agriculture — like the agricultural pricing roundtable which will include Michael Skillicorn of Dean’s Beans, Bena Burda of Maggie’s Organics, Kim Lamberty of Just Haiti Coffee, Jonathan Rosenthal of Cooperative Coffees, and Stacey Toews of Level Ground Trading. There will also be an expanded list of sessions for retail stores, including a session on building sales with a regular special events schedule with Rich Howard-Willms of Plowsharing Crafts. We’re also offering some exciting sessions for wholesalers like developing producer empowerment and involvement with Pushpika Freitas of Marketplace: Handiwork of India.

Tell me about the film premiere of “Connected by Coffee.”

Connected by Coffee movie posterConnected by Coffee is a great documentary film covering the lives of coffee farmers and the benefits of fair trade relationships. The film — by Aaron and Chelsea Dennis of Stone Hut Studios — aims to show how coffee farmers and coffee drinkers can work together to create a more just trading future.

The screening during the Conference will be the world premiere, which is really exciting for us! We’ll be hosting it at the Athenaeum Theatre in downtown Indianapolis — a beautiful historic space that’s really walkable for locals. The event is open to the public (we’ll be selling tickets for $8 at the door) and we’ll have a Q&A panel afterwards. This event is another a great opportunity for folks who can’t commit to attending the full Conference to meet some of the attendees and participate in he Q&A; we’ll have the filmmakers, the FTF Executive Director Renee Bowers, Jonathan Rosenthal of Cooperative Coffees, and Matt Early of Just Coffee.

How is the conference partnering with local Indianapolis fair trade organizations?

We’re working closely with local FTF members Global Gifts, Imani Workshops, and The Village Experience to get to know the Indianapolis area a little better and to spread the word about the Conference. Global Gifts in downtown Indianapolis will also be hosting a small reception right before the film screening on April 2nd from 6 – 7:30 pm. All are welcome to attend and browse the store!

Are there discounts on registration? When is the registration deadline?

Yes! Full-time students will receive a significantly discounted registration rate. Anyone can register for the Conference up until Monday evening, March 24th — a week before the Conference starts. You can register online on the FTF website.

Thanks to Suzanne Cotter for sharing the inside scoop on the conference! I know I’m excited to attend and learn more about what makes a fair trade business tick. If you want to know more about the conference, visit the FTF website.

Disclosure: As a media partner I am receiving complimentary access to the conference. I am receiving no other compensation for my promotion of this event.