Exciting news for Awamaki! As of May 2, 2014, we have joined the Fair Trade Federation, completing their rigorous membership process. This formally commits us to providing fair wages for the women in the cooperatives with whom we work. Since the founding of Awamaki, our mission has been to supply women the opportunity to support their families and continue the weaving traditions with fair wages, but it’s nice to see it in writing!

Now that the Fair Trade Federation has welcomed us, we have new opportunities to expand our international wholesale market and build new relationships within the fair trade network. A perfect example of this kind of market expansion was the California Gift Show; featured in the World’s Goods platform, Awamaki was so excited for our first show on the west coast, and we showed off our updated iPad and computer cases, featuring newly designed textile patterns.

The show was a hit and took place July 18^th through the 21^st at the LA Convention Center! If you missed the show but still want to support our new fair trade membership, we have rebooted our Awamaki Lab online store, so check it out!