We are Alison and Simon Henderson, Directors of Earth Squared, a fair trade fashion accessories brand based in North Berwick, East Lothian.

We are lucky to work in a lovely office building with sea views with our fabulous team: Nicole, Caroline and Rosy.

We create fashion accessories, including handbags, purses, scarves and more, and we work with fair trade producers in Vietnam to bring them to life.

For us, fair trade is at the heart of what we do. Fair trade means that the artisans who work with us are paid fairly and work in good working conditions. Further, we pay them before production and work hard to ensure they have predictable, reliable advance orders and continuous and sustainable employment opportunities. We are delighted to have worked with the same artisans pretty much since we started — and visit them twice a year to work on new products. We are proudly Scottish and design everything at our base in North Berwick, but want our products to make a real difference to those overseas that make them.

We have developed a Highland cow purse for the Trust, which continues to appeal to customers old and young! Using our tweed fabrics as a base and designed to tie in with other ranges the Trust is selling, we wanted to create a modern yet cute cow motif with a blend of multi-coloured yarns. Feedback has been great, and we are looking to develop other products using the same motif. After all, who doesn’t love a Highland cow?!