Supermarché Fairtrade Clothing: The story of one green success

They started in 2009 as a small shop at Lausitzer Platz. 10 years later, Supermarché is one of the biggest concept stores in Berlin offering fair fashion and accessories. We met the two founders, Nicole and Ben, during the 10 years anniversary party in September, and had the chance to talk to them and get inspired by the Supermarché story.

New shop around the corner

It all started with a visionary idea. 11 years ago Ben and Nicole took part in a business plan competition of Berlin-Brandenburg. They had the intention to open a shop where they could promote their own label Hirschkind that was founded in 2008. For their brand they screen-printed by hand clothing for adults (especially shirts and long sleeves), baby clothing as well as organic bedding and fair trade tea towels with flora and fauna motifs.
But Ben and Nicole surely never wanted to sell clothes only. Topics such as ​“Fairtrade Clothing”, and ​“Ethical Fashion” have always been fundamental political issues and important values to embed in their work. The new shop was supposed to reflect their interests and beliefs.

But as it usually happens, none of the big business consultants believed in the new ‑offline- green startup. ​“They said that we were these green dreamers from Kreuzberg who have no idea how the big business works,” comments Ben. Nevertheless Nicole and Ben did not let themselves down and, despite the negative provisions of the business plans ​“experts” they opened their sustainable fashion concept store.
And we are grateful they did! The current success of Supermarché proofs: The only thing you need to begin with is a clear idea backed by strong values. Just this month Nicole & Ben´s achievements have been awarded with the ​“Green Buddy Award 2019”, which officially crowns Supermarché as an outstanding example of sustainable and innovative retail business.

Long-lasting partnerships as the main value

Today at the store the own brand ​“Hirschkind” is complemented with many other green fashion labels such as Recolution, Jyoti Fair Works, Armedangels and others. Ben and Nicole choose their partners very carefully and care a lot about transparency. That is why all the brands they are working with are described in detail on their website, including information about production countries, certifications and so on.

“With some of our partners, we are working together since many years. We know most of them personally and we know that we share the same values. With regard to new brands, they usually visit us and present their collections at the store or we find them at eco fashion trade shows.”

To guarantee the quality of the products, Supermarché works very closely with its suppliers. Long-lasting partnerships based on trust are very important for Ben and Nicole, who rarely change their offer. ​“With some of our partners, we are working together since many years. We know most of them personally and we know that we share the same values. With regard to new brands, they usually visit us and present their collections at the store or we find them at eco fashion trade shows.” says Nicole.

Beyond ​“Eco”

The concept of social justice seems to be very important to Supermarché. They want to encourage people to consume more consciously, to raise their voices against injustice and exploitation. ​“Brands that are doing more than ​‘only’ producing in a fair and ecological way are our favorites. For Instance companies that empower women working in small workshops or social businesses” says Nicole. As an example, we can mention such labels as People Tree which specifically supports socially disadvantaged groups in developing countries, Jyoti – Fair Works that was founded in the small Indian town with the aim of giving local women more independence and worthy job, or ThokkThokk that, for instance, is taking action against child labor in the textile industry.
In addition to that, once in a while Ben and Nicole organize events and talks at their store at design markets and at festivals where they talk to different audiences about the shop concept, their passions and beliefs.

Everything for everyone

With such a big, but well-chosen variety of products, it is really hard to define the main target group of the store. It feels like it’s a place for everyone and this fact makes Supermarché so special. ​“Our customers are very different: a punk-looking for an affordable black hoodie on his way to a concert at Wild at Heart, a lawyer buying business clothes, a green mum from Kreuzberg, a 70 years old man from the South of Berlin searching for a Fairtrade jeans, a family living in Brandenburg, a tourist from Croatia and so on,” explains Ben. ​“People are very different and we want everyone to find affordable fair clothes. Because of this fact, we are offering clothes for different age categories, body types, for people with different incomes,” he adds.

Nevertheless, the fair fashion market is constantly growing. It’s getting to the point when shops, in order to differentiate themselves from the others, have to decide what to focus on. Supermarché, for instance, has an extensive collection of jeans and trousers, difficult to be found in other similar stores in town. ​“At the moment we are selling around 50 models of jeans for women and 30 models for men. So nearly everyone can find something,” says Nicole.

Fight the stigma

Educating a customer about its products is something every sustainable concept store pursues every day. For some people, eco-fashion means too ​“hippie”, too expensive and hardly accessible. Even though ​“green” as a trend is getting more popular, stereotypes are still pretty strong among consumers. Supermarché is trying to fight the stigma. ​“We should be loud and tell everyone that fair-fashion or eco-fashion is cool, fashionable, elegant and everything else what fashion can be,” so Nicole. And education is bearing fruit. ​“We can see the change in consumers’ choices. They rather go for organic food, the number of social enterprises is growing, the interest of young people to ​‘green topics’ is growing as well. We don’t give up our hopes for a change!” says Nicole.

This is only a portrait of the 10 years old Supermarché store. You can find more information about the shop, its products and the socially and environmentally responsible brands behind them on Supermarché website. Or go personally to visit this unique store in Berlin: Wiener Straße 16, 10999 Berlin Kreuzberg.