Safia Minney: People Tree

Safia Minney, MBE, is a prominent name in sustainable fashion and one of the ethical fashion movement’s foundational voices. A British social entrepreneur, author, and a tireless advocate for fair trade, human rights, and climate justice. Safia has spent over three decades transforming fashion from the inside out. Long before "ethical fashion" became a buzzword, she was building something resilient and radically transparent.

Safia’s work is a life dedicated to finding dignity in fashion to the workers, the humans behind the garments. Her advocacy has consistently focused on reimagining supply chains to ensure decent work, fair wages, and safe working conditions for garment workers, particularly women in the Global South.

In recognition of her impact, she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2009. And in 2005, she was named an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the World Economic Forum, solidifying her place as a global leader in ethical business and systems change.

People Tree: A Blueprint for Ethical Fashion

Safia is best known as the founder and former CEO of People Tree, the ethical fashion label born in Japan in 1991, when the idea of "fair trade fashion" was virtually unheard of.

What started as a grassroots movement grew into the first international fashion brand to be certified by the World Fair Trade Organization. With transparency built into every seam, People Tree was one of the first to prove that traceable, ethical supply chains were possible and that they were essential.

By the early 2000s, Safia had brought People Tree to London, introducing the UK market to fashion that was beautiful, conscious, and backed by certified social impact. Long before sustainable fashion was trending, she had already built the template.

The Author and Educator

Beyond her entrepreneurial work, Safia is also a prolific author and educator. Her most recent book, 'Regenerative Fashion,' presents a bold and timely call to restructure the industry through planet-positive methods, low-impact materials, and equitable livelihoods. It’s a toolkit for designers, brands, and activists who want to build fashion systems that restore rather than extract. Through her work, she continues to center people, planet, and profit, challenging business as usual with tangible alternatives that work for all.

Campaigns & Projects 

Safia's influence extends beyond her books and brand with a bigger purpose.

Fashion Declares - A movement led by Safia, rallying the fashion industry to publicly declare a climate, ecological, and social emergency. It calls on fashion leaders to cut emissions, use regenerative practices, and support social justice from within their businesses.

Slave to Fashion - A bold investigative book project and awareness campaign that explores modern day slavery in the fashion supply chain, shining a light on forced labour, wage theft, and the structural inequalities run by fast fashion.

Indilisi - A new social project is in the making for artisanal fashion, partnering with her friends Brett and Scott Staniland and fair trade groups in India, Bangladesh, and Kenya. It is rooted in empowering communities and selling surplus fabrics to brands, buyers, and manufacturers, giving them a second life.

What makes Safia Minney so compelling is that her story is still unfolding. Despite decades of impact, she continues to push boundaries, develop new solutions, and collaborate with the next generation of changemakers.

She challenges the fashion industry to change and value people as much as profit, and to rebuild its foundations around transparency and justice.

Safia Minney’s life and legacy remind us that fashion is never just about clothes, it’s the hands who make them, what systems produce them, and what values they represent.