Featured on the stores' shelves are woolen hats woven by Nepalese village women; unbleached T-shirts made from organically grown cotton hand-picked in Zimbabwe; and necklaces and bracelets made of leather. The company operating these two stores opened its first outlet in 1995 and the second a year later. It has already recovered its initial investment, and drew media attention for the fact that the president was a woman in her twenties.

Young people have been flocking to "fair trade" stores because the items on sale are both natural and stylish: Accessories using leather, shells, and nuts resonate with the recent ecological movement, and vividly colored hats and sweaters have captured the hearts of individualists who are looking for items they cannot find elsewhere.

The stores have a wide following among those who embrace the hip-hop fashion, but thanks to the general acceptance of casual wear among all age groups in recent years, the popularity of these products is not limited to any particular group.

Reappraising the Value of Traditional Products
"Fair trade" can also be viewed as a form of foreign aid that helps people in developing countries support themselves and protect their way of life. Often in the past, products from developing countries were purchased at low prices by buyers and resold many times by middlemen. Final consumer prices were extremely high. In such cases, producers were at times forced to work under poor conditions, and articles of inferior quality crept in.

"Fair trade" sets itself apart from such business practices in trying to benefit both the producer and consumer. Its products are offered at low prices because profit-seeking middlemen have been eliminated, and producers receive higher payment and better treatment when less attention is paid to profit margins.

Until recently, however, "fair trade" products from developing countries could only be bought through NGOs, either by mail order or at booths set up at festivals and other special events. Buyers tended to be people strongly concerned about conditions in the developing world.

Now more people--particularly women--are becoming interested in supporting workers in developing countries by taking on the management of "fair trade" stores. These stores have been cropping up in city centers and other fashionable locations and have been attracting a broader range of customers. The stores are also adapting what they sell to consumer preferences, such as by adhering to agricultural produce grown organically or with minimal agricultural chemicals. Some clothing producers have changed their designs in response to the latest trends in Japanese fashion. Although "fair trade" is motivated by the desire to assist developing countries, it cannot be sustained unless it is commercially successful.

There is no doubt that "fair trade" will initiate a reappraisal of the commercial value of traditional products from developing countries. But by drawing young people's interest with a new approach, it also has the potential of increasing their awareness of NGOs and the work they carry out in developing nations.