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Accredited fashion label Ginger & Smart has recently begun displaying Ethical Clothing Australia swingtags on all of their Australian-made garments in retail stockists including David Jones.

Ginger & Smart director, Genevieve Smart, said the response from customers has been very positive.

“They are impressed that the Ginger & Smart product is made in Australia and are also very happy to know that that the garments are ethically made,” Ms Smart said.

The women’s fashion label was accredited with Ethical Clothing Australia in April 2010 in time for its headline appearance at Australian Fashion Week and is the first major fashion label to fully embrace the licensing rights awarded to all accredited brands.

“It’s very important to us to be sure that our supply chain is ethical and we are proud of the work we have done to gain accreditation,” Ms Smart said.

Ethical Clothing Australia national coordinator, Emer Diviney, said having a major fashion label utilising the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark was a great step forward for the not-for-profit accreditation and labelling system.

“This is the point where the initiative will really start to have an impact. When consumers can walk into a major department store, pick up a garment from a leading fashion label and see the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark. We’re very excited and hope that Ginger & Smart gain the recognition for being a leader in this ethical fashion field,” Ms Diviney said.

Ms Diviney said other major fashion brands will also be displaying the Ethical Clothing Australia trademark on their spring/summer ranges and highlighted smaller fashion brands, such as redbox7, NMBQ and The Social Studio, that are already using the trademark.

The Ethical Clothing Australia trademark guidelines allow for a lot of flexibility.  Accredited businesses can promote their accreditation via their own branding and ticketing, or purchase  generic Ethical Clothing Australia swingtags and garment tags off the shelf.

 “We’d obviously encourage all of the accredited brands to make the most of their licensing agreement, so anyone wanting more information about the options or how to go about it, should get in touch with one of our accreditation advisors,” Ms Diviney said.