Hey, nice clothes. But are they ethical?

Last month, Edun introduced the ONE Campaign T-shirt, made at its Lesotho factory, advertising that $10 of the $40 price tag would go to a new program that brings HIV testing and treatment to Lesotho's textile workers, an estimated one third of whom are HIV positive. More than 30,000 shirts have sold since Nordstrom introduced them Sept. 11.

"It's become a trend," Mr. Kemp-Griffin says. "Like with food, there's a trend of traceability and acknowledging where your stuff comes from."

And this makes it worthwhile for companies to make T-shirts in Lesotho. Companies produce their clothing at factories scattered throughout the world. It is good publicity, and economics, for them to say that a certain percentage of goods comes from "guilt free" countries.

Lesotho's textile business began in the early 1980s, when South African companies set up factories here to avoid apartheid-era sanctions. In recent years, the industry boomed because of international incentives and subsidies – in particular the World Trade Organization's Multi-Fibre Arrangement's quotas on China and other countries, and the US African Growth and Opportunity Act. By the early 2000s, Lesotho's economy was dependent on its textile industry, which at its height employed 53,000 workers, around 85 percent of whom are women. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, textiles account for about 40 percent of Lesotho's GDP.

Then, at the beginning of 2005, the Multi-Fibre Arrangement's quotas expired. Analysts from around the world predicted the demise of textile industries in countries such as Lesotho since brands could make all of their clothes in cheaper, more productive Chinese factories. And true to those predictions, in 2005, a number of brands closed or reduced their operations in Lesotho. Textile employment dipped to around 40,000. That's when Tsoeu lost her job.

But at the same time, an alliance of companies, NGOs, government representatives, and others were trying to find ways to protect the country's industry. Already, some brands had improved working conditions in Lesotho to answer concerns about sweatshop labor. The group realized that if Lesotho could start aggressively marketing itself as an ethical source of clothing, it could retain and even grow business.

"Ethical trading gives you a competitive edge," says Andy Selm, regional textile and apparel specialist at ComMark Trust. "You can attract a better quality of customer."

The companies listened. While there are other factors in Lesotho's recent textile upswing – softening currency, for instance, and other international trade limitations on China – the ethical trade boom plays a huge role. Gap makes its Product Red line here, for instance. Edun Apparel chose to build its factory in a remote part of Lesotho. And Mr. Selm says that some of the brands that left during 2005 are looking to start making clothing here again.

Not only does Tsoeu have a job, her working conditions are far better than in other countries.

Selm says he expects the factories to employ 50,000 people – almost the industry's peak – by the end of the year.

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