Forgotten Shirts: Fashion meets Fair-Trade
=QUALITY by Forgotten. Photo courtesy of Forgotten.
Want to be fashionable and Fair-Trade? With Forgotten, a Minneapolis-based company that produces Fair-Trade shirts, you can be stylish and support people in need. But Forgotten isn’t just a typical charity organization; this company provides work for individuals in Africa and Minneapolis.
There are two numbers that are important at Forgotten: 74 and 3. Each forgotten shirt provides 74 minutes of employment, and three groups of people (a cotton farmer, a textile worker, and a screen printer) are directly benefited. Forgotten’s shirts are produced in sub-Saharan Africa, where cotton farmers and textile workers are paid a fair and competitive wage. The shirts are then brought to Minneapolis, where they are screen-printed by at-risk youth in search of after school jobs. These urban youth gain basic business and life skills as well as mentoring as part of Youth Enterprise.
Forgotten shirts come in a variety of styles and can be customized for any organization. Photo courtesy of Forgotten.
Founder Steve Conrad says, “Our goal is to create good, well-paying job opportunities that maximize potential and allow producers to earn a living wage, support their families and reinvest in their communities. We envision a world where we don’t need to spend billions of dollars each year in aid. Rather, we are hopeful for a world where the marginalized are given opportunities to succeed.”
While the company has several standard designs, Forgotten will also customize shirts to fit the needs of businesses and private clients. One popular design, =QUALITY, contains the message “We are all created equal–whether rich or poor, fortunate or unfortunate, known or forgotten.” Purchase one of these shirts and support equality of ALL types!
For more information, or to purchase clothing, please visit www.forgottenshirts.com.
