Kaitiakitanga

Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua - Take care of the land, take care of people, move forward to the future.

While we don't want to pressure our customers about sustainability in fashion, we remain deeply committed to ethical and sustainable practices because it aligns with our company values and how we choose to conduct our business.

In order to stay true to our values as future Kaitiaki, we stand strong to looking after Papatūānuku.

Local Manufacturing:

Our goal when creating new collections is to generate employment opportunities in our community. We design, cut, and sew our garments in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton, here in Aotearoa, New Zealand. By producing most of our garments in-house, wecan offer customization in shape and sizing that is unmatched by most designers.

What sets us apart is that we create our patterns, which allows us to provide tailor-made adjustments to better fit our clients' unique shapes, lengths, and sizes. Additionally, we can create made-to-order pieces because our studio has the capacity to bring your wardrobe to life.

Dead-stock textiles:

Our use of dead stock materials involves three categories: discarded textiles, reclaimed textiles, and end-of-line textiles sourced from New Zealand suppliers. Deadstock fabrics refer to the leftover textiles that have been collected in small runs from around the world by some of the larger New Zealand designers, suppliers, or fabric retailers, and which have now arrived in Aotearoa. 

We are incredibly fortunate to collaborate with several suppliers who enable us to work directly with leftover and dead stock fabrics to create extraordinary pieces. This approach has become one of our primary methods of sourcing textiles, and our designs are often inspired by the materials that come our way. Additionally, our collection is made in limited numbers which enhances the exclusivity of our unique pieces specially crafted for our customers.

Ethically Sourced:

The textile industry's shift towards ethical sourcing and sustainable practices has brought about greater transparency in the sourcing of wholesale fabrics. This is a significant boon for us in our efforts to create a better future for our precious Papatūānuku.

Our suppliers uphold the promise that they work closely with ethical and fair mills around the world, with a strong focus on well-established sources for their fabrics. We collaborate with them to ensure transparency by personally visiting these suppliers and asking questions about their practices. 

In our research, we have identified greenwashing as the major issue plaguing our fabric industry. While we acknowledge that smaller, family-run offshore fabric suppliers may not have the means to acquire costly international certifications and audits, our suppliers keep a record of their certification the factories do hold. These certifications are with our suppliers available for designers to verify at any time.

Ethical Suppliers

Our sourcing strategy revolves around working with individuals who share our values. Currently, we have established partnerships with outsourced garment suppliers from Australia who prioritize ethical sourcing in their management policies and practices. However, our primary focus rests on collaborating with factory owners and management who operate a culture of respect and dignity, share our values, are committed for the long term, and are open to change and progress.

We approach our suppliers with questions about their selection of factories and whether they seek out the best practices that match our ethical and sustainable criteria. Based on the needed fabric type and production capacity, our suppliers conjointly select factories and review them frequently to ascertain safe, legal, humane, and fair working conditions.

Although our suppliers do not operate with a large number of factories, they choose to work closely with the ones they are familiar with. This allows us to have complete oversight throughout our supply chain, ensuring that our products are manufactured under safe, ethical, and humane conditions.

Locally Printed

Our commitment to sustainable printing extends beyond utilising local manufacturing processes. We have also embraced eco-friendly, non-toxic inks that guarantee printer safety and promote environmental preservation in our studio.

Eco-friendly screen printing ink has transformed the printing industry by developing water-based textile inks and ink for screen-printing that perform exceptionally well yet lack the harmful chemicals. At their core, these inks eliminate the traditional trade-off that existed between printability and post-production performance.

In the past, most commercial screen printers used plastisol inks due to their ease of use and longevity. However, plastisol inks contain PVC and phthalates, both of which harm the environment and may cause various illnesses. The cleaning process for plastisol inks entails using harmful solvents that negatively impact not only the printer but the wider ecosystem.

Off-Cuts

As with all clothing brands, our manufacturing process creates leftover scraps and cuttings. We reduce waste by repurposing larger scraps for patchwork designs, while small scraps and threads find new life in the creation of our original garments.

Share your sustainable and ethical journey with us.

Together, we can create a better future for the fashion industry. If you have insights about ethical sourcing or know individuals who work with eco-friendly textiles and sustainable fashion practices, don’t hesitate to send us a message.