Just Trade is a fair trade jewellery and accessories company who work with artisans around the world - they are also one of Copeland Park’s longest standing Residents, hitting the 20-year milestone this year. Their model is built around a collaborative approach at each step of the production process.
Founder Laura Cave comes from a jewellery design background, studying in Birmingham before moving to London to complete a master’s. Whilst studying at the Royal College of Art, Laura specialised in prioritising a collaborative approach to jewellery making. This was primarily inspired by time in Peru, during the late 90s, volunteering with a fair trade jewellery initiative. This project was born out of a need to create part-time, fairly paid work for women in shanty towns either at or close to home.
“A lot of people don’t know there is a difference between Fairtrade (one word) and Fair Trade (two words). Fairtrade focuses on the commodities themselves and the supply chain, whereas Fair Trade approaches things from more of a social enterprise angle, built around the interests of the people who make the products.”
Laura’s journey to a Bussey Building studio started in her landlord’s garage in Camberwell with her friends Chris, Anna and Hannah back in 2004. They were experimenting with screenprinting equipment which their landlord allowed them to store in his garage. Obstacles to their creative freedom included, an ever increasing mound of building materials, foxes, and at one point, a cat in labour who had chosen the printing table as their birthing bed. It was time to move.
In 2005 they began searching the local area for a new studio. Peckham and Camberwell at this time had a much larger selection of warehouse and studio spaces but the group were drawn in by the Bussey Building and Site Caretaker, Abdullah. “It was an informal viewing, Abdullah dug out a set of keys, unlocked the door and ushered us in. The space was just right for us, it was close to home, slightly warmer than other studios we’d viewed, and I think we fell in love a bit with Abdullah’s charms.”
The Bussey Building that they moved into was very different from the current iteration. Laura was teaching part-time whilst running Just Trade out of a studio-share with her 3 artist friends in unit BGN, which they had dubbed Garudio Studiage in a nod to their previous garage-based home. “There were stonecarvers carving headstones, storage units, churches, and lots of artists who had portfolio careers, with the Bussey Building providing affordable and slightly ramshackle spaces for their artistic endeavours.”
Laura’s sister, Ali, joined 2 years later when she was asked to help out for 3 months – that was 18 years ago. Over the next 10 years Just Trade professionalised and grew alongside the Bussey Building, with Ali managing dispatch and accounts.
By the time significant Bussey Studio renovations were complete in 2016, Just Trade and Garudio decided that this was a good opportunity to move into separate spaces. “Garudio were having great success with creative installations, art works and with their humour based screen printed products. We were taking on more wholesale accounts and collaborating with new artisan makers and it was decided that more space was needed all round.”
Just Trade’s early work linked back Laura’s connection to Peru where they found partners who were in need of work close to home. “For a lot of our partners this is the first time they have worked in this way, making items for export, and we were very aware that everything had to work around their family commitments.”
They began with crocheting as it was low-tech, cheap, and could be done from home. As the project grew, these partners were able to fund their children’s educations, pay medical bills and even build houses.
For Just Trade to get involved in a new fair trade project there must be a two-way relationship and an opportunity to work together to create something unique. “We aim to collaborate at every stage of the design process and production – it always brings about much more interesting results, with local knowledge and resourcefulness playing an invaluable role in the whole process.”
The items produced by artisan partners were initially sold at markets in the UK with a small amount of wholesale business. However, Just Trade soon realised that the business model would only work for their partners if production was scaled up significantly. “We began exhibiting at trade shows and the right people found us there. We were the perfect fit for independent gift shops and cultural heritage sites. They loved the products and the story behind them, and knew they would connect with their customers.”
What began in Peru has now grown to Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh and alongside this the client list has grown to include some world famous institutions. “The artisans we work with have now crocheted Shakespeares for The Globe; sausage dogs for St. Paul’s, Anne Boleyns for Hever Castle; and crafted Nutcracker jewellery for the Royal Ballet and Opera.”
This growth is best demonstrated by Just Trade’s partnership with the Imperial War Museum – an initial order of 80 crochet poppies for Remembrance Sunday commemorations one year, now sees 6,000 poppies hand crocheted each year by the women in Peru, many of whom have been affected by conflict themselves.
“Many small businesses are struggling in today’s economic climate, but the partnerships that Just Trade has developed with independent retailers and buyers at cultural heritage sites have been crucial to our sustainability and remaining in London has also been key to that. We are always striving to provide more meaningful, fairly paid work for the artisans we collaborate with around the world and they are proud that their products are being sold in such wonderful stockists.”
July 2026 saw Just Trade hit their 20th anniversary and they held a small celebration at one of the two Bussey Studio units they currently hold. “Copeland Park isn’t our second home, it’s our first home. Over the past two decades, there has been so much turbulence in the world that the Bussey has been our constant.”
Looking forward, Just Trade are an ever-present at our Bussey Building Open Studios, which will be returning at Christmas. And they also have a very exciting upcoming project with the Cutty Sark, making jewellery out of pieces of the ship’s hull.
