Going Beyond Fashion: Outdoors Company Promotes Fair Trade

Páramo's ethical practices are paying off. Its Colombian manufacturer - the Miquelina Foundation - has received a prestigious award from the Colombian President, honouring its contribution to the community in the capital city, Bogotá.

The Miquelina Foundation, which was set up 26 years ago by a Catholic nun, has been working with Páramo for 10 uninterrupted years. More than 10,000 "women and teenagers at risk" have been trained in their workshops. Currently, 200 women manufacture the majority of the garments of the Páramo range with international standards accreditation ISO 9001.

The pioneer of the Foundation, Sister Esther Castaño, is 73 years old. Nick Brown, Páramo's MD and creator first met her at the beginning of the 90's after receiving samples of outdoor jackets from South America. To his surprise, when visiting Colombia, he found the energetic Mother Superior at the helm of this unusual project that combined commercial and social aims. Since then, Páramo and Miquelina have formed a strategic alliance or "a gift from Heaven" as Sister Castaño calls it, which has benefited a vulnerable community enormously. Their achievements include a crèche for 200 children, a secondary school, an adult education centre, a virtual library, housing co-operative and a mop factory. Throughout the years the Foundation has stuck to its social commitment, investing 100% of profits in different projects.

Colombia's President, Alvaro Uribe said when handing out the prize, "to do business in itself is a very productive act, but to do business in Colombia this way implies a superlative merit that deserves to be held up as an example. My voice of support goes to you for returning the confidence needed in our Nation and for providing opportunity".

Páramo continues to produce high performance garments, offering unrivalled protection and comfort to outdoor people. They combine unique Directional fabrics from its sister company Nikwax with intelligent designs born in the mountains.

This summer Páramo will be launching the CAMBIA range of super-rapid drying T-shirts, unique among technical T-shirts because of their reversibility