Finding the right people to work with is half the battle.

Finding a good manufacturer to work with is key in sustainable fashion.

So many things need to be considered, the rights of the workers, the quality of the clothing , and the origin of the cotton, to name but a few. These are some key areas for us.

The workers

No matter what you want to create, you need to make sure that those who are actually creating it for you and working on the garments have a safe environment to work in, with equal rights and pay practices in place for every worker. There are many governing bodies and accreditations that you can check with to see if a manufacturer is meeting the standards you seek. Two great examples of those would be Fair Wear Foundation, and SA8000 accreditation.

In the end the manufacturer we chose is SA8000 accredited, which is considered one of (if not the) highest accreditations possible in regard to ethical manufacturing standards worldwide.

The quality of the clothing

Simply a must , you have to be able to provide high quality clothing that lasts, in order to be able to combat "fast fashion" and the idea that clothing is simply disposable and only to be worn for a few weeks/moths before being thrown away. 

So it was imperative that our garments were made to last, and would withstand any outdoor activities and countless washes, and still maintain their shape and look, so their life span would be extended as far as possible.

The origin of the cotton

Did you know, that even when a garment says "made in India" or made in "Portugal" , that does not mean that the cotton it is made from also comes from that country. Call us naive but we didn't know that until we started out our manufacturing journey. We quickly found out that it is estimated that almost 80% of all of the worlds cotton used in textiles comes from China. and often it becomes impossible to fully trace the complete origin of that cotton, or the practices under which it was grown , worked on, and collected. So thats an issue we needed to address.

Our cotton is 100% organic , and grown in the North of India, in an area where monsoon rains provide almost all of the water needed to grow the crop. This is a huge advantage as all cotton can be a water intensive crop to grow. As the cotton is organic, it doesn't use harmful pesticides that can cause soil degradation, and food crops are even grown on the same soil that our cotton was grown upon when dry season comes around. And the cotton we use is certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard ( GOTS ).