Owning Our Impact

This local “seed to garment” approach minimizes pollution from transportation and dramatically reduces our carbon footprint as compared to industry standard. Our choice to produce in Peru is based on the fact that Pima Cotton is native to Peru. This fiber is deeply tied to the traditions and culture of Peru, as indigenous people have cultivated the fiber for thousands of years. Peruvian Pima Cotton, unlike other cotton varietals, is drought tolerant. This means that it takes 50% less water to grow. Utilizing this fiber is further preserving a tradition that provides income to many and helps the local economy of indigenous people. Our sources work directly with communities in Peru to provide opportunity and ensure that quality and ethical standards are met.

The garments we make in Peru are currently produced across seven factories. We aim to work only with factories that have received (or are in the process of receiving) their WRAP certification. WRAP, or Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, is the world's largest factory-based certification program for manufacturers of clothing, footwear, and other sewn products. WRAP certification ensures humane and fair practices (including no child or forced labor) by checking payrolls, benefits, and hours/week.

Two factories (Diseño ACMM, Catalogo) are WRAP certified. This means they are certified according to twelve Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production Principles. The Principles encompass human resources management, health and safety, environmental practices, and legal compliance including import/export and customs compliance and security standards. Catalogo, the factory we use for our largest category (knits) has received WRAP Platinum certification.

Right now, we are also producing at two factories (4S Textil, Tsonkiri) that are not WRAP certified, however, they are in the process of receiving their certification. WTS (World Textile Sourcing, our production partner) has committed to supporting the cost of having both factories officially become WRAP certified and they are currently undergoing the costly and lengthy review process. In the meantime, WTS closely monitors both factories to ensure that all WRAP principles and Peruvian government standards are met. Tsonkiri is on track to earn their certifications by the end of the calendar year.

The other three facilities where we produce our garments (TAP, Marga, and Alpafina) are currently too small to receive WRAP certification. After thorough review, our choice to support these smaller operations is based on their strengths and skills and our desire to employ local artisans. As they grow, our production partner, World Textile Sourcing, will support them in receiving their certification. Much like 4S Textil and Tsonkiri, WTS closely monitors each of these facilities to ensure that all WRAP principles and Peruvian government standards are met.

Our shipping envelopes are 100% certified compostable and our card inserts are made of 100% recycled materials. We choose not to include a return shipping label to reduce potential waste. Every piece in our line is enclosed in a 100% certified compostable bag. When composted, the bag will fully biodegrade within one year.

We are currently undergoing a complete audit of our business and production processes to get a more exact cost of offsetting emissions. We’re looking forward to sharing more information on this process as we go. While we verify our current footprint, it is being estimated by EcoCart through verified industry standards for similar businesses. EcoCart’s methodology centers around scientific best practices, widely accepted by GHG accounting experts and utilized by many Fortune 500 companies.

Through EcoCart we are proud to offer carbon neutral shipping. They’ve helped us estimate the cost of offsetting the emissions from manufacturing and shipping each order. We’ve given our customers the option to make their order carbon neutral at checkout, usually adding 1-2% to their total. EcoCart then uses the extra cents to donate to a carbon offset project.

EcoCart projects don’t just slow climate change, but also have a positive impact on local communities and animal habitats. By working closely with project developers, EcoCart ensures that each program is stable, sound, and capable of doing good for both people and the planet. By carefully tracking the emissions reductions of each project, EcoCart provides a greater certainty that what they see is what they get. EcoCart also ensures that all project verification documentation and reports are available. 

In 2021 we reduced the amount of our wholesale sampling by 57%, instead choosing to utilize our visual digital assets in better ways by eliminating the sampling of multiple colors and core styles. For context, our showrooms used to receive a sample of each item in the line. It’s industry standard for sales purposes, but it got us thinking about the negative environmental impact with regard to resources, waste, carbon emissions, and water for producing this many samples. Our reduction in sampling translates to about 774 less samples in a season, and that is roughly 3,096 samples in a year.