Ipswich mum Jo Salter wants to change the world ? so she has started in her own small way with her own “moral” clothes label.

In the same way that modern shoppers demand traceability for food, and other products, Jo believes we can do the same for our clothes.

She has launched her own ethical clothes label – Where Does It Come From? sourcing clothes direct from garment workers in co-operatives working in Gujarat, India.

So customers can not only know they are from a `Fair Trade’ source, where local workers are properly rewarded, but can actually trace their garment back to the individual people, and see their stories via the website.

Jo, the mother of sons Luke, nine, and William, six, has launched the first group of products online, a denim collection of clothes for children. Her two sons have been pressed into action as fashion models for jeans and other items.

“It has taken two years to get to here,” she explained.

“It is early days yet. I have started with children’s clothing because there seems to be a demand from friends and other parents for attractive and practical clothes for their children. I will probably next move on to jeans for adults.

“The children’s jeans are in three colours and quite unusual.”

Other popular items included a denim dress and practical culottes for girls.

Jo was inspired to set up her own business to fill a gap in the market place. She was fed up with fashion being linked to sweat shops, pesticides, chemicals and the way clothes are quickly discarded and after years of research and negotiating, has now launched her own label ‘Where Does It Come From?’

Customers can trace where they were manufactured and where the material for their clothes come from, including where the plants were grown.

“The cotton industry is rife with pesticides, forced labour etc. and most customers demand cheaper and cheaper clothes,’ said Jo.

‘Fast fashion, where garments are produced in about in four weeks, has contributed to the challenges faced by garment producers. We all know about the Rana Plaza factory collapse and the effects of chemicals and pesticides on people and the environment.

‘I’m hoping to inspire people to have more of a relationship with their clothes – just as when you grow a carrot in your garden it seems more tasty, I’m hoping that people will feel more for their clothes when they know how they were made and who made them.’

The clothes are ethically produced by artisans whose skills are passed from generation to generation – skills such as hand dying, weaving and block printing.

Jo added: “It is good to know people who make the clothes are directly rewarded.”

Visit www.wheredoesitcomefrom.co.uk for more information.