Abstract
This chapter tracks the advent and development of the Fair Trade fashion movement. It offers a typology of definitions of Fair Trade fashion, as the concept is subject to academic and cultural debate due to the complexities of fashion production supply chains. It explains the paradox of the branding and promotion of the concept with its insignificant market penetration. To better understand the business reality of the Fair Trade fashion model, the chapter then showcases a set of production entrepreneurs and consultants who are leading the Fair Trade fashion transformation by focusing on their own definitions, production platforms, supply chain policies, retail strategies, and branding and promotion tactics. The definitions of what production and supply chain management tactics constitute Fair Trade operations come from the respondents themselves, obtained via semi-structured interviews. They offer insights of their unique product features and collaborative networks. They also explain the differentiation in price-point structure of their respective fashion target markets to clarify in what segments Fair Trade premiums are successful. The findings add to the literature on Fair Trade fashion with examples of successful strategies to create small businesses in both the production and consulting space. The implications for fashion supply chain operations are in understanding the opportunities for localisation and prioritisation of short supply chains, as well as harnessing local talent and cultures.