Our Suppliers

Back in 2004, we started out with a handful of suppliers, who were pioneering organic cotton and were mostly involved in the development of the fairtrade cotton standards for certification, which were introduced in November 2005.  They’re still supplying us and are now good friends, those lovely folks at Gossypium, Epona, Little Green Radicals (Hug, as it was back then) and Fairdeal Trading.

There are lots more great suppliers who’ve joined the market since then, working hard to manufacture and do business as ethically as they can.  It’s a privilege for us to work with many of them, (though not always all at once!).  If you’d like to know more about any of them, have a look at our supplier list in the links section.

Some of our smaller suppliers don’t have websites, so we’ll mention a few of them here.

Pachamama

Our UK supplier of fairly traded sterling silver jewellery is based in Whitby and buys directly from family enterprises in Bali and Java.

Local Designers

In the shop, we stock pieces by local designers who use recycled materials.  We’re still working out how best to bring their work to the web, since many of their designs are one-offs, but we’re sure they’ll be a hit when we do…

Kitnkabu

Chan originally set up kitnkabu in 2005, printing Manchester designers’ designs onto organic cotton t-shirts.  Since then there have been many new designs and lots of experimental customised t-shirts. 

Bad Pixie Bird

Using other people’s reject garments to produce young, fun and quirky skirts and tops, Hayley Bird is a favourite in the shop.

Julie C

A bag lady with a difference!  Julie designs unique, beautifully made bags, using recycled fabrics.  Sometimes she makes clothes for us, too, which are really special.

Lucky Ewe

Kate Schofield creates beautiful one-off knitwear pieces, including hats, bags and cardigans, using reclaimed yarns and hand-spun rescue sheep wool.  

Retyre

Martin Austin makes belts from bike tyres, with buckles from charity shops.  It’s a labour of love finding and cleaning the raw materials, but the resulting belts are cool, rugged and virtually indestructible one-offs.