This week marks the 4th anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed 1,100 workers. The eight-story building housed at least 5 factories working 24 hours a day to complete orders for big fashion brands around the world. In memory of this tragedy, April 24th is Fashion Revolution Day, an international movement that campaigns for systemic change in the fashion industry and greater transparency in supply chains.
We are often asked questions about Popinjay’s values, business model and practices. We couldn’t think of a better time than today to talk about what makes Popinjay an “ethical” label, and what impact our customers’ purchases have. We hope this post answers most of the questions you may have about Popinjay as a conscious customer. We also hope it might serve as inspiration for other brands to incorporate fair practices into their production processes.
What is Popinjay’s vision or raison d’etre?
Popinjay started with the vision to create a brand that makes beautiful products with an even more beautiful story. We aspire to:
- A transparent and fair supply chain — no one is harmed in the creation of our products. Workers are not nameless, faceless, or silently exploited.
- Empowerment of makers — training, fair wages, dignity, a path to self-sufficiency and a focus on their overall welfare
- Meaningful connections between makers and consumers — every product has a beautiful story of craftsmanship; let’s celebrate this story.
At Popinjay, we believe in revealing the people, processes, and stories behind our products to empower our discerning customers.
What artisan or maker communities does Popinjay currently work with?
While this isn’t obvious from our current website (we are launching a new one, stay tuned!), we work with 4 communities in 3 countries at present, each with their unique talents, and each offering a unique opportunity to create impact.
1) Hafizabad, Pakistan
Our largest artisan community is in Hafizabad, Pakistan where we employ 150 women that congregate to work at a community center daily. These previously-unemployed women earn wages that bolster their overall household income by 40–60%. With a 4-hour workday, this means their hourly wage rivals with that of their husbands’, who have an 8-hour work day.
Our surveys reveal that the women’s incomes are used on children’s education, healthcare, and to buy food and household items. Some artisans save to fund their own higher education or build homes for themselves. Their half-day work schedule with Popinjay allows the women flexibility around their family obligations and household duties.
2) Lahore, Pakistan
Popinjay works with a small group of male craftsmen in Lahore that specialize in embellishments and hand embroidery. Some of these craftsmen have proudly carried their craft in the family for over two generations, and have an unbridled passion for it.
Read the feature we recently did on our male artisans here.
3) Saigon, Vietnam
The leather craftsmanship of our handbags takes place at an ethical, woman-owned leather boutique and workshop called Red Pearl in Saigon, Vietnam. Here, men and women work alongside and earn equal wages. Popinjay’s signature embroideries, created by our artisans in Pakistan, are shipped to Saigon, where they are finished by the workshop into premium leather products.
Read more about our Vietnam partnership here.
4) Hangzhou, China
Our newest partnership this year — and our search for the best silk fabrics in the world — took us to the heart of the world’s manufacturing capital. Our focus on fair production led us to parter with a textile fabrication and printing house that we look forward to featuring in more detail this May. Stay tuned!
In addition to the financial impact, working with Popinjay brings dignity and pride to all our artisan and maker communities. Knowing that consumers around the world buy their work, and deeply love and appreciate it is extremely empowering for these communities, while the ability to earn an income through their own hard work is a boost to their self-confidence.
What does a “fair” supply chain really mean?
It seems the words “ethical” and “fair” are thrown around a lot these days. What do these words mean in the context of Popinjay’s supply chain?
Simply put, it means we pay special attention to the welfare of our artisans and workers. It means fair wages and compensation, healthy and safe work conditions, training and a path to self-sufficiency, and above all — dignity.
Our ethics at Popinjay means we reject the system that champions rock-bottom prices that exploit workers in the name of fast fashion. Popinjay began with the vision of giving opportunity to underrepresented artisans, and to bring their craft to the world so they could sustain their livelihoods. It is our mandate to ensure that in the process, our supply chain remains transparent, that the makers of our products are not nameless, faceless or exploited. We’re committed to ensuring the welfare of everyone that works or partners with Popinjay, now as well as in the future. We advocate for a shift from seeing fashion as disposable to investing in quality, timeless pieces that celebrate an art and represent a story.
Your purchase enables us to create equal opportunity for every person and artisan across our supply chain.
How does Popinjay select the workshops it partners with?
Popinjay has strict standards for the workshops it partners with, paying special attention to supplier ethics.
In addition to visiting and building personal relations with our partner workshops, and ensuring basic criteria are met such as no forced or child labor, the factors we consider when picking our partners include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Safe and hygienic work conditions. Workers should have health and safety training, and access to clean toilets and drinking water. Accommodation, where provided, should be safe and meet workers’ basic needs.
- Wages and benefits paid should meet, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher. Beyond the minimum, we do give preference to partners that do not just pay their workers the minimum wage, but keep the welfare of their workers first and foremost, and pay them at or above market rate for the industry.
- Working hours should not be excessive, should comply with national laws, and all overtime should be voluntary.
- There is no discrimination in hiring or compensation based on race, religion, age, disability, gender etc.
Our partners share with us the vision of a world where the makers of the products we buy and carry are treated with fairness and dignity.
Does Popinjay consider the use of leather ethical?
While Popinjay’s current focus is on the “people” part of ethical manufacturing, as we grow and acquire more resources and bandwidth, we do aspire to also pay attention to the “planet” part i.e. using sustainable materials that minimize negative impact on our environment. While we wish we could do both simultaneously i.e. focus on people and planet, as a young, 3-year old company, we are realistically unable to do so.
That said, Popinjay aims to produce bags that are produced responsibly and offer a sustainable alternative to high-end designer names. We produce our bags in small batches, so that wastage is minimized. We have also started incorporating smart design into our creative process, again helping minimize leather waste in the production of our bags. We also vet the tanneries we work with to ensure they meet international environment management standards and use treatment plants to process the effluent.
It also bears mentioning that leather as a material lasts a really long time (decades if treated properly) and is a more sustainable alternative to cheaper fast fashion due to its durability. We aim to create timeless products that are not trend-based, poor quality items that will need replacement every few months.
Do you have questions about our production or supply chain that we didn’t answer here? Write to us and we’ll be happy to tell you more — team@popinjay.co.
