The co-founder of an ethical clothing company has written a children's book explaining how the business got started and how it operates in a global market.

Abigail Petit, who runs Gossypium in High Street, Lewes, is hoping Eye Of The Needle will throw light on the secrets of the clothing industry.

The 60-page book was originally conceived as a children's drama workshop which toured schools with Sussex theatre company Intrepid.

It central characters are autobiographical Happy Girl (Abigail) and Tips (Abigail's husband and business partner Tom Petit) and are designed to appeal to a younger audience.

Abigail said: "I had always intended to write the journey of how Gossypium started but when the opportunity to do a children's project arose I realised I could write it for children.

"Somehow it worked really well. There is something naive about how I traipsed around the world talking to weavers and visiting cotton fields.

"There are some hard-hitting facts in there about the interplay between the factories and sweatshops, the producers and the High Street.

"It's a complex mix the layman would have trouble understanding but writing the book for children allowed me to put it in quite simple terms.

"The book also looks closely at the skills of the producer, the embroiders, the printers and the dyers because these are people we are getting further and further away from.

"We have become quite jaded and out of touch, so the book, in many ways, is a celebration of all the things you can make with your hands."

Gossypium was launched in 2000 as a web site business, allowing users to create, customise and order clothes made from organically-farmed Indian cotton.

A year later, the company opened a shop in Lewes, forged on a partnership with 42 farmers in the Kutch region of India. Gossypium now supports more than 500 farmers.

Gossypium buys the farmers' cotton at a fair price - eight per cent above market rates giving them capital to farm properly.

The goods are then sold at premium prices in the UK.

Gossypium's clothing range is made with 100 per cent organic and fairly-traded cotton and includes casual wear, nightwear, underwear, yoga wear and babywear.

Gossypium has printed 2,000 copies of Eye Of The Needle, which can be ordered online at www.gossypium.co.uk or from 0800 085 6549. The book is priced £7.95.

Tuesday, 21 June, 2005