MADISON, Wis. — Local retailers have helped the idea grow in Madison, and now University of Wisconsin-Madison is adopting fair trade apparel.

Student groups have been pushing for years to make sure UW-Madison licensed clothing isn’t made in sweatshops. The university said it believes all apparel currently complies with its code of conduct, but those who still have concerns now have a new option.

UW-Madison freshman Hannah Silberman was picking up two of the new Fair Trade UW Licensed T-shirts at the University Book Store Tuesday.

“Fair trade is a big deal and my nieces are from Berkeley too, so I know they care about that,” Silberman said.

“It really started with student activism. The students really brought it to everyone’s attention that it is a big deal how this stuff is made because it has the university markings on it, it’s representing the university,” said Kevin Phelps, vice president of the University Book Store.

The company that makes the shirts, Counter Sourcing, said it is utilizes a new way of making clothes. The company pays its factories for the costs of making the shirts, then gives an additional 10 percent of all their sales to workers, and another 7 percent to support worker’s rights and environmental protection.

“It’s opening eyes, so that people are aware that they need to look at tags and find out where a product comes from,” Phelps said.

The student group that helped raise awareness of the issue said this is a step in the right direction.

“I think it’s good, but we just can’t let it distract us from the bigger picture,” said Phoebe Taurick, a member of the Student Labor Action Coalition. “We want to make sure that factories that produce clothes for the bigger brands have better conditions.”

The book store said it hopes that demand can make the new shirts a big seller.

“I was kind of bummed that one rack was all they had actually and not more than that but, yeah, it’s exciting,” Silberman said.

There are currently no fair trade production standards for apparel — like there are for coffee or some other handmade crafts. But Counter Sourcing is currently working to help create those standards, WISC-TV reported.

The company has been working with about a half-dozen other colleges throughout the country, including Duke, Boston College and New York University, but UW-Madison is the first in the Midwest to try it out.

The University Book Store said it hopes to carry the shirts at all of its locations and to work with the Hilldale Fair Trade store Fair Indigo to carry some additional products like sweatshirts and polo shirts.