Responsibly produced clothing - who makes our products?

Understanding each part of the supply chain is vital to our business, and it's important to be extremely mindful when it comes to choosing fabrics to work with, down to the manufacturing of each item and how the factory staff are treated.  As a small conscious brand I have chosen to only work with and produce items through factories that conform to ethical, fair trade and sustainable standards.

The Team

A lot of research goes in to finding my suppliers, and having the best working relationship with them is absolutely key.

I have developed a mutually beneficial agreement with my suppliers, whereas they have allowed me lower minimum production quantities in order for me to grow my business without over committing. This is a very rare occurrence in this industry which I'm extremely grateful for and shows their commitment to changing the way clothes are made.  Whereas larger fashion brands and high street chains can commit to huge quantities, they are also known for hard discount tactics in order to produce mass cheap items, and in return push the industry to produce more and more cheap fabrics and turn a blind eye to under age, under paid and over worked staff.

Fair trade is neither charity nor assistance, it is a professional link between producer and buyer that is based on respect and fair business practice. The producer receives a fair price for their products which allows them to pay fair wages, thus giving workers the possibility of providing for their families with dignity. My supplier's workers rely on their jobs to better their living conditions, particularly concerning health, education and housing and they take this responsibility seriously.

Fabrics

The fabrics I use in my garments are absolutely key to my business. Simply stating that something is made from 'cotton' is not enough, as the production of basic cotton has a huge impact on the planet. Producing standard cotton (on average, 25 million tonnes of cotton is produced annually, and represents nearly half of textiles used worldwide) contributes to desertification due to the sheer amount of water needed to grow it, subsequently turning fertile land into desert.

I mainly use organic cotton and at the very least, BCI registered cotton. You can read more on organic cotton HERE or on BCI cotton HERE

Other fabrics I use are modal, bamboo, Lenzing certified lyocell/viscose, and linen. 

Quality fabrics for my t-shirts and sweatshirts are ensured by my supplier's in-house spinning and cotton mills, allowing for specific compositions and custom knitting. On a recent trip to visit my main supplier I was lucky enough to see some of my fabrics being made.

Consumer Choice

What this all boils down to is consumer choice. Nobody can be forced to buy ethical and responsibly made products, and we are totally aware that price tags have a lot to do with this choice. It is impossible to compete with big fast fashion brands, as they pay pennies for labour, mainly outsourcing to developing nations and using fabrics that leave a trail of destruction in their wake. It's also worth knowing that the top 10 fashion brands made 18 billion dollars in profit in 2018.  While the women at the bottom of this chain (80% of garment workers are female) earn on average £4 a day, while big fat cat directors are sailing around in their super yachts funded from profits from modern slavery.