By Matthew Legg

Last updated 11:44, Monday, 01 September 2008

A CUMBRIAN shop owner is leading the fight to turn the clothes trade ethical.

leading the way: Katrina Robinson with her new website at her Whitehaven shop, Board

Katrina Robinson, of Board, the surf and skate wear store in Whitehaven, has launched a website selling only organic, ethically-produced lines.

She will also donate 10 per cent of sales to a charity that supports farmers in switching to organic methods and a further 10 per cent to a fair trade fund.

The site – board-lifestyle.com – offers surf and skate wear for men and women, including a pair of shorts made from recycled plastic bottles.

Katrina hopes eventually to stock only ethical and fair trade clothes in her shop as well.

She took the decision after her conscience was pricked by a friend in a conversation about where raw materials come from.

Katrina, 29, of Nether Wasdale, said: “A friend of mine asked me recently: ‘You do realise where cotton comes from don’t you?’

“I said: ‘I do, but I’m trying not to think about it too much!’

“There has been a lot of publicity about things like child labour and I think people are becoming a lot more conscious of where things come from.

“So I decided I wanted to do something to change things and came up with the idea for the website.

“It is amazing how many organic and fair trade products are available and the quality is just as good.

“It’s the men’s side of things that’s leading it, because of the short shelf life of some of the women’s fashions they tend to have been slower to catch up, but things are changing.”

Katrina opened Board three years ago after she was inspired on a trip to Australia.