Sustainability
Sustainability is inherently African! Our mothers throw nothing away, our fathers farmed and fished small-scale with the environment in mind and Africa is now the target destination for the global fast fashion’s massive overproduction.
Our manufacturing is ethical. We work solely with independent family owned and run mills, factories and ateliers in Mauritius, Portugal and across Africa that have good working conditions, pay their staff above national minimums and use neither child labour nor indentured workers. I visit them regularly pre, post and during production to ensure the same.
As a slow fashion brand we also produce a limited number of collections per year and as much as possible on a pre-order basis to avoid excess.
FABRICS & TEXTILES
Currently, we use a limited range of materials chosen based on their relative environmental impact as well as their “touch”and skin comfort.
SWIMSHORTS
Recycled Polyester + Reclaimed Ocean Waste Plastic
All our swim shorts including the mesh lining are now made from 100% Recycled Polyester. The swimwear fabric also consists of 20% SEQUAL™ a yarn made from reclaimed ocean waste plastic.
APPAREL
Linen
We use linen for our super soft t-shirts and summer shirts. Across its lifecycle, a linen shirt uses 6.4 litres of water compared with 26 litres for a cotton shirt, according to the CELC report. This is because of the intensive irrigation typically required in cotton-growing.
Tencel
Our latest fabric and our favourite for its comfort and versatility. Tencel is made from plant materials. However, manufacturing Tencel requires much less energy and water than cotton. As a naturally derived fibre, Tencel is also biodegradable. Lenzing sources its wood and pulp from certified, controlled and sustainable managed (eucalyptus) forests.
PRINTING & DYES
The print dyes our suppliers use are certified to OEKO-TEX® - STANDARD 100 and certified free of harmful substances and that it is therefore harmless in human ecological terms.
PACKAGING & TRIMS
Our plastic bags and cardboard boxes are 100% recycled and recyclable
PACKAGING - recycled/compostable.
SWING/HANG TAGS - recycled paper
BUTTONS - currently plastic
LABELS - recycled yarn
We also offer our customers and clients locally-made artisanal raffia pouches as gift packaging rather than plastic totes.
Written by Bola Marquis
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