All these Fairtrade organic cotton clothing from The Bishopston Trading Company are produced in the village of Kilvayattanan Kuppam in Tamil Nadu, South India.

K.V.Kuppam is situated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, approximately two and a half hours west of the state capital Chennai.  We refer to it as a village, whereas in fact it is actually a number of villages organised under the administrative district of K.V.Kuppam.  It is a very busy and bustling place, but still very rural in outlook and culture.

The villagers of K.V.Kuppam speak Tamil, although there are a few villages in the area where the first language is Telugu.  The majority of people are Hindus, but there are also significant populations of Muslims and Christians: the people of different religions live harmoniously together.

The K.V.Kuppam Tailoring Societies are one of the largest single employers in the area.  The main other form of employment is subsistence agriculture.  Every Monday in the village centre there is a crowded weekly market, it is full of fresh produce, some craft-items and even some live animals!

There is a long tradition of handloom weaving in the area, with about 90 handloom weavers who produce our beautiful Fairtrade organic cotton cloth.  Mostly this is then tailored into garments for our clothing range, but we also sell the cloth by the metre to other fabric shops and to other designers.  The weavers work from home, weaving in the traditional way and on the looms passed down through generations of their families.

Many of the cutters, tailors, hand-finishers, and embroiderers that work in the Tailoring Socities are women.  Their earnings are equal to the men, and their incomes allow them to support their families.  Education is the most valued asset a family can have; there are primary and secondary schools in the village and many of our partners are keen that their children should complete further education and attend university.

The Tailoring Societies have a policy of spreading the opportunity to have long-term, stable, well-paid employment to as many households as possible.  For this reason they will only employ one member of a household.  They also have a policy of employing people based not only on their ability to learn the skills required, but also based on the economic need of their household, in order to ensure the opportunity of a good job at the Societies reaches the most marginalised people in the area.

In the 24 years that Bishopston Trading Company has been working with K.V.Kuppam we have seen a marked improvement in the quality of life of the villagers in the area.  For us this is evidence of the power of Fair Trade to help the most economically-deprived people of the world improve their situations through putting their skills to
productive use.

For more information about K.V.Kuppam visit www.kvkuppam.info