Luscious mango body
butter; the White Musk
perfume of your high
school formal; pots of
good-enough-to-eat
strawberry lip balm. The
Body Shop has a history of
creating cult beauty buys.
But in 1987 an icon was
born that would change the
brand forever: a wood-
turned footsie roller.
Amanda Murphy was
backpacking in southern
India and, distressed by the
poverty and corruption she
witnessed, was stirred to
make a change. Her plan?
Utilise the locals’ skills in
woodwork to craft massage
rollers for her former
employer in the UK, The
Body Shop. Teddy Exportswas founded in the village
of Tirumangalam, Tamil
Nadu, with five workers,
a tiny mud hut and a slab
of firewood.
Fast-forward 30 years
and the mud hut has grown
into a sprawling 20-hectare
property with 650 staff.
Profits are funnelled back
into community welfare and
education, with a school for
1000 children on site.
Importantly, the
organisation “doesn’t
discriminate based on
gender, caste, religion,
disability or HIV status”,
says director Lee Mann.
In a nation where many
women struggle to get a job,
at Teddy, they make up 71
per cent of the workforce,MC FACT In India, women earn on average 56 per cent of what their male colleagues earn for the same work.†PORTFOLIOreceive equal pay and hold
more than 80 per cent of
the management positions.
Rajeswari Pitchairajan
came to Teddy as a
receptionist in 1996, aged
22, and has worked her way
up to logistics manager.
“Through my work we were
able to buy some land and
I can support my husband,”
she says. “My son is now
studying engineering –
I never dreamed this
would be possible.”
Teddy’s latest initiative
is a program giving sex
workers – some as young
as 17 – tuition in tailoring,
which may lead to full-time
employment.
The theme of female
empowerment continuesfor The Body Shop with
its newest Community
Trade partner. The beauty
business will source organic
mango from regions of
central India where women
are the main breadwinners,
collecting seeds from deep
in the forest and carrying
up to 50 kilograms on
their heads.
In an age of extreme
economic inequality and
ecological crises, ethical
trade is today more salient
than ever, says Mann. “The
products [we produce] are
important, but I see them
as a vehicle for opportunity.”
In other words: that mango
body butter, slathered onto
the skin, could actually
make a difference.84 marieclaire.com.au
BE AU T Y F OR
BET T ER
Celebrating 30 years of Community Trade, The Body Shop
champions power to the people – in particular, womenClockwise from left: Teddy employees
sewing textiles for The Body Shop; crafting
the game-changing footsie roller; an on-site
creche for new mothers; logistics manager
Rajeswari; students at the Teddy school.