Daniel Abraham:Looking at other companies like DECE and competition

http://www.spiralthreads.com/

Spiral threads is "Fair trade organic clothing" with a difference, with their snazzy outdoorsy cool web design and grungy looking fashion style it really does start to show that you can have a well designed clothing line without the need for cheaply manufactured items. This is the sort of thing our group would like to aspire to with our marketing, taking an idea that isn't unpopular but isn't really part of the norm and really turn it on its head.

http://iamthetrend.com/2010/04/19/year-of-thread-makes-killer-green-and-ethical-indie-clothing/

This isn't quite the same as DECE because it doesn't tell us where the products are produced or where the money being made is going, but it does tell us that the products are manufactured through fair trade means and also that they use organic materials. However it is a fair trade company which might not be 100% legitimate because money may get lost in the system along the way to the manufacturer, which is always a concern with fair trade just like other charitable organisations. This isn't a problem for DECE as it is shown on their site where the products are made, by who and where the profits are going. However i still chose to look at this site because once again it is well design and has a clear market it is selling to, also for the fact the products have a certain style all the way through their clothing line despite the fact all their clothing have different designs. They also don't limit themselves to just clothing, they also sell other products such as art, music and they even have a forum for example, this may be something worth looking at when we are coming up with initial ideas.

http://www.routeone.co.uk/

 I have looked at a lot of sites that are the competitors of DECE, the kind of sites that sell possibly unfair trade for a lot cheaper. The kind of sites that seem to have never ending sales on a never ending number of products. I chose this one in particular because it seems to appeal to roughly the same groups that the first two sites were aimed at. However as i mentioned this site doesn't, or doesn't seem to support fair trade in any way, and doesn't speak of any organically obtained materials. That being said the web design is very well done and looks just as impressive as the previous two. The only difference between this company and the others is rage of good and the prices, a beanie hat from routeone costs roughly £12 and one from DECE costs roughly £20 which does give the impression that some companies do make somewhat of a profit by skimming off the top somewhere.