A message from the founders
The key is not to anticipate our customers' orders but to produce them in response.
Let’s start small. Here are the 3 shocking facts we found about fashion sustainability:
It takes about 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt. That's enough water for one person to drink at least eight cups per day for three-and-a-half years. Source: WRI and Business Insider;
The fashion industry is responsible for 8-10% of humanity’s carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined (UNEP, 2022). If the fashion sector continues its current trajectory, that share of the carbon budget could jump to 26% by 2050;
The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second. (UNEP, 2022);
Sustainability
As we dove deep into how sustainable we can really be as a company, we were confronted with several questions that we hope to address in this section of our website. The reality is that we do not have degrees in sustainability, nor do we consider ourselves experts. We understand this is a complex topic, full of pros and cons and we are always willing to have a conversation, learn more and grow more. We are a profit-driven company, but we are also conscious about our planet, our environment and labor injustice. We might not have the power to revolutionize the industry, but we will certainly, to the best of our abilities, do our part to raise awareness and prevent more damage. If you see something you disagree with or feel that you have a better point of view, please feel free to reach out to us and talk. We are strong believers of the “be curious, not judgmental” mentality and we are always open to learning more and being better.
According to the Oxford dictionary, sustainability is defined as the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level and avoidance of the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance. It is understandable to see the necessity of separation between economical sustainability and environmental sustainability. The two are difficult to reconcile. On one hand, economically speaking, sustainability often gets approached as a business is ramping up, costs are being monitored and economies of scale are often preferred (a proportionate saving in costs gained by an increased level of production). On the other hand, environmental sustainability focuses on reducing harm to our natural resources, focusing on the longevity of goods, upholding animal welfare and protecting the workers in the garment industry.
According to the McKinsey and Company/Ellen MacArthur foundation, while people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000, they only kept the clothes for half as long. We start to see a shift in the consumer mindset post-2020 on this matter, however the question remains: Is this increase in waste motivated by consumer necessity of showing different styles or the poor quality of fast fashion and poor designs? At a recent personal event, as we were having a conversation about our company with people from different professional backgrounds, many have said that they throw away their company merch due to poor design and poor quality. The irony behind this is that most companies make commendable efforts to improve the environment like forbidding plastic bottles in the office or incentivizing people to bring their own cup or recycled bottle. Although it is a tremendous progress going to our bottle filling stations and see how many plastic bottles we saved, as mentioned above, it takes about 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt. If your employees are throwing away their merch, you do the math. Of note, we do not blame these companies, we ourselves learned this as we deep dived into this research. It is just food for thought.
According to the Harvard Business Review, Kenneth P. Pucker, former COO of Timberland says "Notwithstanding improvements in technology and communications, predicting demand across tens of styles that are launched seasonally is much easier than doing the same for thousands of styles released monthly. Therefore, fashion inventories inevitably accumulate, and 40% of fashion goods are sold at a markdown. “The urge to sell more and get consumers to buy more is still in the DNA of the industry,” says Michael Stanley-Jones, co-secretary for the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. “Clothes have a very short life span and end up in the dump.”". This poses a secondary issue. The prediction of the production required to satisfy consumers' demands is not always accurate, leading to an overstock that eventually, not only drains natural resources but also pollutes the environment. According to the WRI and UNECE, in total, up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year. That's enough to fill the Sydney Harbor annually.
Kenneth also notes: "Thanks to trade liberalization, globalization, and enduring cost pressures, very few brands own the assets of their upstream factories, and most companies outsource final production. “There are still very, very few brands who know where their stuff comes from in the supply chain, and even fewer of them have entered into active relationships with those suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint,” says environmental scientist Linda Greer".
As we ourselves started searching and starting relationships with suppliers, we have found this to be, unfortunately, true. There are layers and layers of middle companies, and it is hard to keep track of and understand the true origin of the products.
Let us break down the information and how we are working to tackle this issues:
Poor Design and Poor Quality
One of the main reasons for corporate merchandise to be disposed of is the unattractiveness of the product itself. We offer a variety of products that we consider stylish, outside of the box and, well, cool. We also offer to work with you on how to structure your logo and your company’s merch to have something your employees are happy and confident to wear. Which we hope leads to less trash.
Overproduction and Waste
We do not keep inventory, first due to the quality of the products depreciating over time, but also to avoid wasteful management. Our products are basic pieces with a higher quality which allows us to have access to easy production and we try to work with smaller suppliers to have low MOQ. However, it is always in our best interest, not just for profit or cost savings, but for the suppliers to save on energy and resources and to have bigger orders. In essence you get what you order. While primarily partnering with smaller suppliers, we also seek diversity to ensure stability, scalability, and a balance between small-scale charm and larger-scale reliability.
Due Diligence and Transparency
We have spent hours researching to reach to the origins of our suppliers. We require proof or certification from suppliers affirming a certain percentage of recycled materials in their products. Items failing to meet these standards are promptly removed from consideration. We ask our suppliers about their sustainability policies and if they align with our vision. Confidence and transparency walk hand in hand, that is why we stay transparent with our customers and have detailed information about the origin of our products.
Other Company Initiatives
We embrace remote work to reduce our carbon footprint, however we acknowledge the value of personal interaction. We foster cohesion through regular team-building activities, virtual meetings, and communication platforms;
We have energy-efficient practices. We encourage the use of energy-saving appliances, use of natural light when possible and exploring renewable energy sources;
We are continuously effecting ourselves to achieve new packaging solutions. We prioritize eco-friendly materials without compromising the protection of our products. We reuse shipping boxes that are still in good shape and are true to the size of the order;
Beyond our internal policies, we engage with our community by educating customers about eco-friendly practices through our LinkedIn and Instagram page;