Click the buttons below to get the full story on the things we care about most, and find out what we’re actually doing to make things better, pillar by pillar.

Keeping It Real, has to be our first pillar!  We strongly believe in staying true to who you are, embrace your successes, your failures and your truth - they make you who you are.  By sharing our learnings we want to share our commitment to continuous bad-ass improvement.  You, our customer, the womxn who gives the same sh#t as us, we hope you salute us for this level of courage and transparency.  It becomes inspiring, it's shareable, it changes society and mindsets for the greater good.

So, Let's Keep It Real!

Pillar Issue : Premises Address

Issue : People say to us, your mill address doesn't sound very 'premium' with an Industrial Estate address?

Action : We don't move, we stay!  We refuse to spend money on vanity projects just to 'look' the part.  Is it not better to create more jobs first, and when the time comes that we run out of space then we have an agricultural steading that we will restore into a permanent home.  This was our vision back in 2017/18 when we did our crowdfunding Plan B, covid came and it's a new Plan B, but we will get there eventually.  We will always say no to a fancy 'millionaires mile' store, because how is having a store loaded with security guards and people watching you fun?  We welcome you to the mill like it's our home!  Have a laugh with us, see exactly where we make everything, meet the team and experience the reality!  

Pillar Issue : Expensive?

Issue : What you make is so expensive compared to others?

Action : First thing is to try and not compare apples with pears, they are both fruit but they are fundamentally different.  We are proud of the processes we use, where we value the person over the machine.  Textiles and clothing made in this way gives you something that automated mass produced equivalents never can, pride in that you are wearing your values!  We are also very proud about our commitment to sourcing ethically and with environmental respect, we do not want to work with people who cut corners, to do the right thing does cost more.  You pay fair wages, you operate safely, you use green energy, you typically make less but invest in quality.  Read all about our process and pricing transparency to see how the numbers do add up.  You can also check our supply chain info and map, and always remember if you cannot find what you are looking for email us!

Pillar Issue : Affordable

Issue : How can we afford to buy your products?

Action : We recognise that purchasing anything that has not compromised people or the planet has a price, but the right price.  We hear you on the affordability, as we typically pay more to all of our suppliers also.  We want to be real about being inclusive and accessible, we definitely do not want people to get into debt.  We have a couple of actions on this, first we have have our 4 X A Year Approach to ordering clothes and we also have our payment plans available to all.  Our third action is our VIR Membership, where we give back more to those who sign up to supporting us through the good times and the bad.

Pillar Issue : Post Consumer Waste

Issue : Are you doing anything to help stop clothing from going to landfill?

Action : We have a Repeal-It marketplace on our store. This is for all customers to use should they look to pass on their pieces of Prickly.  We know we do not have thousands of pieces out there, but we do know demand for our artisan collections are high.  Our marketplace exists to help create a global meet-up space for people who might want to own a past piece of Prickly. 

Pillar Issue : Real Images

Issue : We cannot help get a bit annoyed with the amount of fake images used by brands selling clothes?

Action : This has been a big one for us lately, models, influencers, hair, make-up, planned location, planned outfits, skin complexion matches, do they have the right look, do we have the right light, do we have the right props in the background?  The list is endless, and meanwhile nobody think's wait this is all fake?  Do you not think customers want to see the people who make all of this?  Do you not think customers want to see where they do it?

So we do the later, we keep every single image real - the fun, the frustration, the people, the place.  Yip, it's all real!  We live in the Highlands of Scotland, but we do not live in castles, we do not get full Highland dress on every day, we do not sit with a whisky and roaring fire everyday.  We work, we care about the impact we make not just in the Highlands but everywhere, we are real!  Oh and we make bad-ass amazing clothes for womxn, like us, who give a sh#t!

Pillar Issue : You Can't Say That

Issue : Since we started our mill in 2018 we had countless people say to us "you can't say that?"  It took us 4 years to realise that actually we can say that, so we do and we will, with truth and kindness.

Action : In the very beginning, all of our communications tried to be everything to everyone, we thought that was what people wanted, and that was what we had to be.  With tartan being the core of all our fabric designs, it's hard to not be constantly pulled into the tartan tornado that has been nearly 300 years in the making.  That's not to say we do not respect the past, we actually think that what we are doing today shows that more than anybody else does (ooooo you can't say that!)  The fabric of our nation is symbolic of pride, honour, integrity, inclusiveness and courage to stand up for others, your fellows.  What could be more appropriate for the clothes of the global womxn who give a sh#t.  Tartan was worn, it was a way of wearing you values, your loyalty, the side you were on!  If tartan is made from petrochemical synthetics in an untraceable supply chain, turned into a single use gimmick item that is only worn once a year, we say please stop!  With so much to say on this pillar of keeping it real, we started a You Can't Say That Podcast in 2022!

Pillar Issue : Failures

Issue : By nature we tend to only share the stories about the 'wins' and the 'oh we know them'...but behind the scenes we can be sitting with our head in our hands thinking "sh#t, what are we going to do now?"

Action : From a failed initial crowdfunding campaign in 2017 to the birth of Plan B in 2018, we have never hidden our failings.  But what we did not do until now is celebrate them, celebrate that we overcame them, we did not give up.  Our top failures since we started, that are also badges of honour for us, are:

1. First crowdfunding campaign failed, we did not reach our all or nothing target.  We very nearly gave up, but Plan B came along and here we are, still waiting to complete Build The Mill.  We have the building waiting for us to restore, but we need to ensure we have a steady bad-ass business first.  Patience is never normally a bad-ass virtue, but we are learning!

2. We entered into a licence deal that cost us.  In 2019 we were approached to partner under licence which all sounded amazing.... they loved our ethos, our commitment to integrity and sustainability.  We created a collection, we love the collection, we wanted to do more with the founders of the story that was being licenced, but it just went round the houses unfortunately. They put us forward for an award that they wanted to win, we were short listed but did not win.  Lots of ideas and promises, and well it did not work.  Won't be doing that again....

3. We became our own worst creative enemy and ended up with too many products, themes and collections.  We started our online store in January 2020, it was fairly limited back then, but in two years it grew and grew with so much on offer it was difficult to manage operationally and difficult to clearly define what we actually did in a clear and concise way.  We simply were doing too much. 

Inclusive Creativity could be two big impact pillars in one, but when paired it's more than double!  We like to think we have twisted these two values together and pushed the boundaries, broken lots of rules, but in truth we probably are just doing many things like we did in the past.  You know the time when we bought less, paid more for it, we knew who made it, we even had a hand in deciding how the finished garment would look.

Time to show you our bad-ass Inclusive Creativity!

Pillar Issue : Sizing

Issue : Nobody knows their true size, the fashion world has created a vanity sizing regime to play into our size insecurities!

Action : So we do not use it, we know you womxn get the flaws in this programme.  We list every piece of clothing with the actual sizes, and we know you are totally cool with measuring up your vitals.  We have a handy measure up guideand are always on hand to answer any questions.  Loved clothes fit better, care for the planet and are cheaper.  Remember that cost per wear calculation in our pricing transparency section, it's a game changer!

Pillar Issue : Fabric Waste

Issue : When we saw 'fashion' patterns for the first time, we were like "seriously do people really put 25% of that fabric in the bin?"  Cutting curves and odd shapes for a vanity size that does not exist?

Action :  Everything we make is made from squares, rectangles and the odd triangle.  Why?  So no waste, and not only that it makes us be super creative in ensuring that our clothes have bad-ass shape not just by cutting out a bit.  That's the least creative thing anyone can do, it's easy, it's wasteful and is it really something we want to promote when we wear our clothes?

Pillar Issue : Multi-Styling

Issue : Since when has single-use clothing been the norm, and that multi-styling was literally as uncreative as putting a belt on or a necklace, or swapping a top colour?

Action : Multi-styling creativity is when you take a piece of clothing and you can turn it upside down and wear it, like our outerwear collection.  It's when you can tie it around your waist as a skirt then tie it over your shoulders as a cape or even tie it over your bust and have a dress, like our kick-ass kilt collection.  Limit hardware, create clothes that follow form and not restrict form.  You see where we are going with this one too, the cost per wear then becomes peanuts, you save when you buy clothes with truly creative multi-styling designed in.

Pillar Issue : Re-Use

Issue : When we talk about re-use we are talking about all forms of re-use.  Re-use is not just you wearing the same garment more then once, it goes way deeper!

Action : Re-use very much sits with our inclusive creativity pillar.  We make clothes that are for all, all shapes, all sizes, and all for sharing.  So the aim of the clothing game, is to wear everything as much as possible, whether that is you or someone else.  How many clothes have multi-size built in making it so much easier to share?  Not that many, because most of these brands want you all to have multiples of the same and have the sizing so limited that you cannot possibly share, or worse still should you change size at any point it doesn't even fit you anymore!

Re-use for us goes beyond that sizing flexibility, it also includes re-use of the fabric for something else.  When we create all of our clothing we are giving you one version of how these amazing pieces of fabric we wove at our mill can be assembled together.  When you de-construct you have highly usable fabric pieces because of their shape.

Pillar Issue : Unique Weave Style

Issue : So get this, Scotland is famous for tartan, a woven cloth with corresponding warp and weft colours.  But at no point did anyone say YOU must weave it in one way, and one way only.... So our untrained little creative brains thought "we have an idea!"

Action : We don't weave any of our collections in twill, pretty simple really.  Being creative can be just that, all of our weave styles, the mixing method we design for our fabrics have meaning.  Like the Elements of Endurance tartan design, it has been inspired by the alchemy elements of earth, air, water and fire.  If you look closely, the fabric also has these symbols woven in.

Pillar Issue : Inexperience Asset

Issue : It is funny how so many people think you need to be trained to do something, but we say why do you need to be trained to be a good person or a good bunch of people wanting to do something good?  So we took our goodness and made it work in the most creative way, we realised not knowing was special!

Action : When we started the mill back in 2018, we were not put off by never having woven a single thing in our lives, we were not put off by the fact that we had never even worked in a textiles mill, we were not put off that we did not study 'Fashion' or textiles, and we were not put off by not having any 'awards' (because really what is that all about these days?...)  We felt we were doing something good, important, and worthwhile.  Since then we have learned so much more than we could ever have anticipated, but because 'we didn't know' it made us hungry for knowledge and unafraid to ask the why.

Pillar Issue : Clothing Design

Issue : There are so few people championing zero waste design, not upcycled design i.e. here's a bunch of ties and let's make a skirt, we are talking about here's a large rectangle of fabric - we want you to make trousers with no fabric waste!

Action : Sounds crazy, but so many people involved in the 'fashion' world do not ever design clothing that has no fabric waste.  It's become normal, accepted and disregarded.  Any wonder why textiles and 'fashion' is the second most environmentally damaging sector globally?  It's like they forgot how to creatively solve problems, all in the pursuit of 'image', they forgot the prime purpose of wearing clothes is protection.  Protection for the human body but also for the planet.  So we say back off you reckless fabric wasters, we will never sell any clothing that has been so brutally created.

Now for the Activism & Action pillar.  In four short years so much has happened in this area for us, and we have never been brave enough to go fully public.  Part of that reason was that we always believed that those people we were communicating with honoured our right to reply, or they would answer the question we were asking and not give us an answer to another question, even after a x 10 repeat of the same question.  Some of these issues are still live with actions happening every week and month, so keep an eye out for updates, and for us watch our list below grow, that will prove we give really care about doing the right thing.  Here is the lowdown on this pillar!

Every rebellious womxn knows, Activism & Action is where it happens!

Pillar Issue : The Word Fashion

Issue : The word fashion, the use of it, the meaning, is there any good in it anymore?  For us it was never explicitly for clothing, it was used to reference style in a whole manner of things.  Now that we have 'fast fashion', people thinking they are not 'fashionable' and have no 'fashion sense', relentless latest 'fashion' updates we decided to say enough of that bollocks, are you talking about clothes?

Action : We will never describe ourselves as fashion makers/designers/disrupters or any of that fluff, we simply make clothes for the rebel womxn who give a sh#t.  Clothes, items of natural fibre construction created to protect your body.  Clothes can also be symbolic of your personality, your values, your community.  We are not making clothes for the unethical, judgemental, vain and selfish womxn of the world.  

Pillar Issue : National Health Scotland (NHS) Linen

Issue : During summer of 2021 we had a genius idea, we would approach our NHS and buy from them their waste linen and use them to make tote packaging bags for our customers orders.... then it went to sh#t!

Action : So we remember the lovely cotton sheets they used to have, some of us are mothers who gave birth to our kids there!  Genius idea we thought, save waste, give money to our NHS and repurpose the sheets for another use.  Then.... we were told, oh its really difficult to find out where the waste sheets are going when disposed of, okay we said can you try harder?  Then.... we saw a public contract award for £12m go to a supplier for polyester blended cotton sheets the following month, we were like this is a joke!  Then.... we emailed politicians, the head of the NHS to ask what is happening here?  Numerous emails and excuses later, they still have not replied to our last email, but they left it with us that the new sheets meet sustainable targets because they are quicker to dry?  Well great NHS, switch on the wind turbines dotted across the Highlands and power your laundry with green energy, stop punting the oil polluted sheets to a third world country, go back to natural fibres and build a textile recycling centre to turn old sheets back into fibres and then new sheets.  Duh!  This issue is not over and we have the 'evidence' on email, they won't reply, the silence says it all!  They hope we will give up and go away, eh no, we are rebel womxn and we will find you!  More below on the recycling....

Pillar Issue : Scottish Living Wage

Issue : We pay to be part of this accredited programme in Scotland after we prove we pay everyone who works at our mill above the National Scottish Living Wage threshold.  Sounds good?, proving we care about the people who work for us.  Well they emailed us on our anniversary to say 'Hey here's a discount code for our online shop of merch'  We go check out the page, and....

Action : We look at the products and say to ourselves, we know we don't make these items in Scotland?  How strange, let's ask them do they know where all of this is made and if every person involved was paid the equivalent of the very wage rate they are paid by the Scottish Government to promote.  Can you guess what happens?  The shop comes down and we get an email saying they had meant to look at this....  Activism win for Prickly!

Pillar Issue : Politicians with no Purpose

Issue : Politicians have no purpose, well, certainly the ones we have spoken to....  The last time we checked they are public servants, they are paid by the tax payer to serve the public.  All we can say is that unless you can make them look good they have one tactic, ignore you or repeatedly answer a question you are not asking to the extent that you give up.

Action : From Matt Hancock (you know the guy that got caught in his own office breaking rules) to Scottish ministers such as Ivan McKee.  We shared with them both our mask solution during the first 6 months of the pandemic, a tested mask for general use that is not plastic waste - long before masks become compulsory for that time.  Well one is now no longer a public servant thankfully and the other knows we are still here.  The next public event will be interesting as we ask straight questions with witnesses.  We gave him a gentle reminder last year during a COP26 event in Glasgow that we were still waiting on his reply, and at the same event we were the ones who told him about B Corp, we kid you not, this is the Scottish Minister for Manufacturing and he had never heard of B Corp.... This one is not over as a matter of principle, we won't waste masses of our time on him, but even with us sharing this publicly we hope people can see that behind the scenes for many years we have always been activists and tried to give these people a chance to be professional.

Pillar Issue : Masks

Issue : Summer 2020 we were the only business in the UK to develop a health tested natural fibre face covering that could be made in this country.  It out performed surgical masks and the proposed subscription model was designed to kick start the first ever Scottish textiles recycling centre.

Action : We wove the fabric, we designed the mask, we tested the mask with Occupational Medicine professionals, the same tests applied to medical grade masks.  The results were wow this works!  We sent all the information to our politicians, we said here is a framework, here is a list of mills and makers who can make this happen, we can ensure everyone in Scotland has a tested mask suitable for a health crisis and a climate crisis.  Can someone speak to us about this being deployed or explain to us what the alternative single use, ill-fitting masks or worse yet fashion show exploitation trend is the better route to save lives?  Well this went round the houses, and everyone 'off the record' we spoke with agreed we should be doing this.  Averting billions of masks to pollution and landfill.  This is not over, again we have the evidence and the answers will be sought.  We have a measure of this game now, and hence our being brave evolution.  But it is sad that public name and shame is the next stage however, when you give a sh#t we don't stand for sh#t like this anymore.  Ivan McKee, Ian Blackford, Kate Forbes and Maree Todd, you all knew about this and did nothing.  Did you ignore us because we were this little 'tartan mill' in the north?  Did you stereotype us or did you judge us unfairly?  We have not forgotten, and if anything you have made us more determined.  Accountability and responsibility does not just disappear with time.... 

Pillar Issue : Bollocks to Black Friday

Issue : Black Friday has become this frenzied consumption day, if not months, where we see growing numbers of bargain hunters, looking to buy things often they don't need and all because of a supposed massive cash saving!

Action : We launched our online shop in January 2020 and in both November 2020 and 2021 we take our shop down for 24 hours on Black Friday.  We say no to this commercialised day of destruction as a symbol of our purpose over profit.

Pillar Issue : Fashion Shows & Front Covers

Issue : What good truly comes from fashion shows and fashion magazine front covers?  Is there a better way to share with potential customers your clothing creations and why you do what you do?

Action : We believe 100% yes there is a better way.  Let's look at shows and front covers, typically they have always been about fantasy looks and even sex selling in these scenarios.  We know that is not everyone, but on the whole why do they do this?  Could clothing creators not give the massive fashion show budget spend to charity or could they pay the people in their supply chain a living wage before they hire the swanky hotel?  If we live in a digital world, and we know we cannot just fly in and out of countries every other week, why have this physical meet up?  We want to ask them to explain why these things remain essential now?  We will never be part of a traditional 'fashion show' ever, because who are the best people ever to show our clothes, our customers, every time they walk down their street!  We will have fun at our mill based Blank Canvas events over the summer months, where everyday people can experiment and play with our concepts.

For magazines, we hope that one day not the prettiest, most photogenic face or body is all that graces the front cover, but remember they are the ones judging and determining beauty, when we buy the magazine we say we agree.  For us we go back to our customers, they are the face of every front cover for us, and the same applies to our team of makers, they are the beautiful ones.  Plus should we printing anything anymore, is not just more unnecessary waste?  It's not like it is medical instructions for a life saving device that you need to operate?  Fashion magazines need to change, show us how sustainably and inclusively creative you can be?

One brand we love and are inspired by is Patagonia, have they ever had a fashion show or want to be on the front cover of a fashion magazine?  Have they ever needed to do this?  Is it just vanity on behalf of these designers and brands?  This activism and action continues....

Pillar Issue : United By Uniform

Issue : In Scotland we witness every year parents being asked to purchase and ensure school age children wear unbranded clothing in very specific colours.  Along with partner suppliers they make available petrochemical branded uniform items.  So we asked a local school, do you have a policy on sustainable practices?

Action : We are now working with that local school to pilot a first of its kind for Scotland.  It's super simple, it's not just a clothes swap, it's where we recover all of the unworn clothing in the school colours across the catchment area.  We develop a programme that gives the skills and confidence to the senior year groups to deconstruct garments and reconstruct into new uniforms that are unique for the junior years.  This is not just an extension of a sewing class, this is the fundamentals of rebelling against a wasteful society.  These skills to deconstruct, and confidence to be unique especially in the world of clothing will have profoundly positive impacts on mental health and planet health.  Projects like these all save money too.  We hope to have the pilot completed for Summer 2022.

Pillar Issue : Thick Hair Thin

Issue : In Scotland we import more animal fibres than we export....

Action : When we started this fabric adventure, we jumped in at the weaving stage, where we buy in yarns sourced as close to home as possible, turn them into fabrics and that very fabrics we make into bad-ass clothing.  Throughout we became more aware and more disappointed about this issue of native fibres being abandoned in many ways.  New for this year is a ground breaking scientific project with a Scottish academic partner and one of the most infamous Scottish textiles brands ever.  We are going to see how we can use nature with help from science, to make thick hairs thin!  When this happens, we will move to 100% native animal fibres, and we cannot wait for that day to come, could it be 2023?

Pillar Issue : Textile Recycling In Scotland

Issue : Through our action and activism with masks and NHS linen we realised something needed to happen here.  There is literally zero post consumer textiles recycling in Scotland, taking natural fibre fabrics or products that are woven or knitted and turning them back into fibre to start the process all over again, and become a new scarf or jumper.  We have shredding for industrial re-use but nothing to close the loop on the manufacture of clothing.

Action : We are currently part of a small cohort of incredibly passionate people to complete preliminary tests and supply chain building for replicating a fit for purpose facility in the UK.  We know this is already happening in other countries, but every country needs a facility when only 1% of textiles are being recycled....

Pillar Issue : No to Sales

Issue : The trick of sales or the pressure of sales, why?  

Action : There are two aspects to this issue, one is those brands that use sales as a lure to tempt you to buy.  The second is those brands that feel immense pressure to reduce their prices to survive, even when they can not afford to do that.  So we definitely say no to the first aspect and we actively try our best to stay out of the grips of the second.  The action we take is we try to not create excess stock, we always list fair prices and we always want to ensure that everyone pays the same fair prices.  Let's face it, having big sales just pisses off customers who paid full price and then attracts mostly customers who are the bargain hunters.  The lure tactic goes back to mark-up and usually can be a sign that the brand selling those items has indeed charged excessive amounts of profit on the full price sales and even with a reduction they are still making profit.  We say why not just have a fair price for everyone?  Discounts and 'sales' are not part of being a purpose-led business, the aim is to make with transparency and sell with transparency.  If you ever see discounts or sales with businesses like ours then we know that is because they are trying to survive and often might only be just covering their high base costs.

We know this was some read, THANK YOU for reaching the end!  We hope you now have a taster of the the activism rebellion that is in our blood!

We have the word of the moment, the century, we have 'sustainable', yip everyone is all about it now, and it has become hi-jacked in the world of greenwashing we know.  But we are not using it alone, we have backed up that pillar with a big bad-ass amount of integrity.  Integrity is defined as, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.  So now we have protected the word sustainable for good!

Here's the principles of our Sustainable Integrity!

Pillar Issue : Place of Origin

Issue : In the world of clothing and textiles, origin is appropriated in the most calculated way, you have seen it.  The images, the style, the language all implying a place of origin.  Well most of it's bollocks, and this is what we do.

Action : Every fabric we use in our clothes is woven by us in the only mill in the mainland Highland region of Scotland.  All of the clothes you see on our store are all also made by us in the only mill in the mainland Highland region of Scotland.  We don't go to town on the fact that we were the only ones who could be bothered to bring the weaving of tartan back to the region, honour the past, protect the future and do it with bad-ass attitude.  We just do what we do from the place of origin.  It's a reality for us, we don't have to imply, trick or make it up - but we will fight back against those who try to pull the wool over your eyes!

Pillar Issue : No Middle Meddler

Issue : We do not have materials and garments that are shipped around the world, no warehouse to warehouse with a middle meddler looking to add costs and burn up carbon.

Action : Not much to do on this one to be honest, we do it all under one roof and sell direct to you.  Limiting carbon miles and limiting 'mark-ups' to give you maximum assurance over the integrity of everything we create and maximum sustainable protection for people and the planet.

Pillar Issue : First & Only B Corp Mill

Issue : Why are were the youngest mill in Scotland and we are the only one and the first to be B Corp Certified?

Action : We know so many frameworks and certifications out there can be subjective and some are just outright pay and display tricksters.  But B Corp is the one organisation that caught our attention within 12 months of opening our mill.  Since the launch of B Corp UK in 2006 over 150,000 business have signed up and only 4,500 have been certified, we are the only mill in that whole pack!  We started the process in 2019 and through the 'pandemic' years we finally were awarded a pass after an in-depth audit.  

Update: read about why we left B Corp here. 

Pillar Issue : Petrochemical Fibres

Issue : What part of virgin, recycled or blended petrochemical fibres and fabrics is any good in clothing?  Is it sustainable, eh no?  Is there any integrity attached to the arguments of it's quicker to dry, it's saving plastic bottles from landfill, eh no?  

Action : We want to see in 4 years time, that all new clothing is only made from natural fibres, plant and animal.  Oil has no place on our bodies, in our water systems as micro plastics, it's highly flammable and toxic.... We don't care how cheap it is, it's killing us and the planet.  That is why we only make our fabrics and clothing with 100% natural fibres, that is why we do not have petrochemicals in our packaging, that is why our mill is powered by renewable energy.  So for those making another t-shirt from recycled bottles and claim to save the planet, we have no words for you.  For those who blend it with beautiful natural fibres, wow!  So you womxn of the give a rebel sh#t tribe, we know you already read those labels and the parts of the websites that lists this info - do what we do and point it out to your friends, what part of sustainable fashion has anything to do with oil?  Answers on a postcard.... 

Pillar Issue : Slow Manufacturing

Issue : We get told by certain people, "If you only had more automated machinery that produced more and needed less people to operate, you would make more profit and you can sell at a cheaper rate?" 

Action : This is what we get all of the time, our reply is to question what part of job creation they are against, and have they heard of UNSDG Number 1 - End Poverty?  Then we put it to them that if we make it cheaper people will buy more than they need, so basically the cost per wear is higher for these people who have no job, and when the wardrobes are bursting it goes to charity and then mostly ends up as landfill in a third world country?  Why is this good again?  

The closing statement then is, so you have heard of climate change, the disaster we are causing with excessive consumption, you are aware of modern slavery and you talk about humanity and solidarity.  Why on earth would you ever ever mention profit if you truly care about these things?  A purpose-led business would only ever scale their efforts to do more for the planet and all people.   

Then the penny drops, we need to make less, with more people being given quality jobs, with kinder materials, with zero waste to be in circulation longer.  That also saves every customer money, this complicated scenario now seems really simple to solve.

Pillar Issue : Supply Chain Transparency

Issue : When you read that bit of info on the product page that says designed in X ('First World' Country) and ethically sourced in Y ('Third World' Country), to then have no information whatsoever about that factory, the people, the conditions they work in.  We think this is no longer good enough.

Action : Supply chains are complicated, we don't deny that, but with a bit of work you can try to ensure you have the cleanest and kindest supply chains possible aside from making everything yourself from cradle to grave.  We proudly disclose who we buy from on What We Do page.  In terms of processes for every bit of clothing we make, the only aspects we do not do is shear the sheep, prepare the yarn and finish (wash) the woven cloth.  We do everything else, and for those parts of the process we don't do we ask questions on a regular basis, we visit them and we partner with them as we learn about every single little improvement that is possible.  For example, our yarn spinners keep giving us plastic bags over each cone of yarn - we have asked them to stop giving them to us, but they say they can't as they are needed for moisture retention.  But when we weave in quick cycles then there is no need, so now we save them up and will be posting them back so they can deal with them.

Pillar Issue : Made to Order

Issue : Why made to order is one of the key traits of sustainable clothing?  If a brand does not offer it then why?

Action : Made to order means clothing is not made when it's not wanted, a solution right there!  We can proudly do this because we carry out many of these processes all under our one roof.  We do not have materials made in X location to be moved to Y location to be made into garment Z, to then be shipped to warehouse 1, then retail store 2 and so on.  This takes months if not over a year to do, so for certain brands it's impossible to offer a made to order service even if it means you are getting a garment that fits better, lasts longer and is worn more often.   Sadly, in order to gain customers they sell cheap and have fuelled the fast fashion culture or they over emphasise the need to have new seasonal looks with key trends so that you buy constantly year after year, regardless of price at times.  A key part of this pillar is our commitment to this method of making.  The best always comes to those who wait, and this is why we have our 4 X A Year Approach.