Last year, Anna Tsoeu was unable to send much needed money to her family after being laid off from her textile factory job in this poor southern African country.

Lesotho's key industry was collapsing as factories cut about 10,000 jobs after Chinese imports flooded the market.

Now Ms. Tsoeu is working again, packaging shirts for brands like Old Navy.

She's part of a remarkable turnaround spurred by Lesotho's increasing attractiveness as an origin of "ethical clothing." More than 7,000 jobs have been restored recently, thanks mainly to a growing demand for sweatshop-free clothes, like the Product Red label, which rock star and founder Bono will promote on Friday's Oprah Winfrey show.

Gap or Levi's – or any of the myriad brands that source here – can promise customers that T-shirts and jeans made in Lesotho were not produced by sweatshop labor, and that working conditions met high safety standards.

And in these days of socially conscious consumers, this sort of promise sells.

"The ethical image has value," says Christian Kemp-Griffin, CEO of Edun Apparel Ltd, a self-described "socially conscious clothing company" with a factory in Lesotho that was started last year by Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson. "A company doesn't have to sacrifice its margins to sell its product because it's doing it ethically. It actually adds value for the consumer."

The rebirth of Lesotho's textile business spread a sigh of relief throughout this country of 1.9 million, where there is almost no other industry besides textiles and hundreds of thousands of people depend on factory workers' incomes.

According to the ComMark Trust, a group working to develop Lesotho's textile industry, British shoppers spent almost $50 billion on ethical goods and services in 2005 – a high percentage of which was on clothing. Julia Hawkins, of the London-based Ethical Trading Initiative, says the demand in the US is just as high.

Consumers are willing to spend a bit extra, she says, if they know that their purchase is "ethical" – and even more if profits go directly to a good cause. If the funds help Africa, even better. And while the trend might have grown from the anti-sweatshop movement of the 1990s, with its university protests and company boycotts, today's ethical buying is decidedly mainstream, even yuppie.

"There has been a huge surge in interest in ethical fashion," Hawkins says. "There definitely seems to be an appetite from consumers – the clothes are well made, look good, and they can ease their conscience a bit."

Earlier this year, Gap, Emporio Armani and other high-end brands launched their Product Red lines in Europe – red T-shirts, cellphones, sunglasses, and other goods. A portion of Product Red profits goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria – a way to save Africa by shopping, the brands suggest. The line has been featured in fashion publications such as Marie Claire and Vogue.com, and promoted by celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashley Judd, and George Clooney.

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