By Cherie Birkner

“If a label tells us: “we try, we are on the way, we do know where our materials are coming from, we have a small factory run under fair trade conditions” but they can not afford a certification, then we trust them and work with these brands.”

Sonja Lotz owns a beautiful shop called MOEON in Berlin where she sells sustainable clothing at affordable prices. Because seals like GOTS (organic cotton T-shirt) or the Fair Wear Foundation (production under fair trade conditions) are to expensive for many small labels she and her co-owner Ester Fröhler have created a check list of their own, which describes the different approaches of sustainability and what must be done to be considered fair trade, EU-made, recycled, sustainable materials, traditional techniques or handmade. This way she helps emerging brands grow, giving them the possibility to focus more on their products than certifications. To ensure that she is selling products of which she can stand behind, the communication with the brands is key. “If a label tells us: “we try, we are on the way, we do know where our materials are coming from, we have a small factory run under fair trade conditions” but they can not afford a certification, then we trust them and work with these brands.”

Sonja's vision of the future: she would like “something that would make our selves unnecessary: sustainable fashion in every big fashion chain, fairly made. And the t-shirts don't cost 3€ any more, instead an amount that makes caring for your clothes worth it.”

Enjoy stumbling across beautiful hand made bags from TOINO ABEL, fair trade + sustainable material jeans from KINGS OF INDIGO or knitted jumpers from MASKA.