Earth Day 2021 - 1 Year On....

Happy Earth Day, or should we say happy Earth Everyday, because this planet of ours is connected to us no matter what the calendar says.

Last year we celebrated the importance of this day with the launch of our special Earth Day 2020 tartan which was created during a time when the Earth was given the valuable chance to breathe again.  As true rebels we always have to look at the silver lining in everything, and with the passage of time the significance of the lining becomes much clearer....

Now, we know it may seem ironic to say we want to protect the planet whilst also making things – on the surface it might not make sense. That is why we look up to brands like Patagonia who tell the world NOT just to buy their stuff. We agree, we wish to inspire as many as possible to wear their values, whether its a new or old garment. 

People need clothes though – this is a fact. That is why we make things, so that the option is there to buy something locally manufactured in Scotland that will last a lifetime… AND the lifetime of someone after. The bottom line is that, if your items will last forever, you won’t need to enter into the cycle of continuous garment consumption that comes with cheap fast-fashion. That is the message we are promoting this Earth Day.

This time around we also want to reflect on the past year since our Earth Day tartan as a final ode to 2020 and everything it brought, as well as the beginning of 2021. Despite many twists and turns we were lucky enough to still be able to achieve so much and a lot of it was down to our active listening to you – our community!

A long while ago we posted a few surveys on our website on the You Inspire Us page with the intention of finding out your reflections and future suggestions for our work…it’s fair to say we were positively overwhelmed with the response! Here is an outline of how we were inspired by you:

• You expressed to us that you were keen to purchase fabric off the roll, as well as tartans with colour palettes inspired by Highland landscape. We responded with our National Trust of Scotland tartans which were a fantastic success!
• You were interested in cloths inspired by the Earth’s natural elements…queue the ‘Elements of Endurance’ range!
• The ‘Lay-Away’ scheme was voted for by many, which has now been implemented and creates fairer access to our creations for all
• You said you enjoyed social media posts about Scottish heritage and history the most. Since, our presence online has covered an array of interesting topics in this area such as Scottish language, Culloden Battlefield, historic tartan photography and, of course, Scotland’s beloved cultural icon Dennis the Menace
• You asked for more community-focused social media posts. We set up ‘Tartan Rebel Tuesdays’ on our @tartanrebels Instagram page which is a weekly initiative that showcases the stories and creativity of our supporters

The feedback in these surveys is so invaluable to us and informs us how to move forward even more thoughtfully and purposefully.  So…we have created some new ones which are now live on the You Inspire Us page of our website! We would be incredibly grateful if you – our customer conductors - could engage with them again.

Clare x