The fabrics

The raw material for the Ethical Classics clothing consists of natural fibbers from plants and animals with a label for organic produce and fair trade. We use the natural colours of the raw materials and where colours are use, they are produced with natural dyes. In the following, you may read more about the various raw materials we use.

Cotton

Cotton has been used for clothing for centuries. The production sparked all kinds of innovation, such as selective breeding, mono cultivation, chemical pesticides and genetic manipulation. Thus cotton could be grown at a larger scale and cheaper clothing could be produced. However, the side effects for the environment and the health of the farmers were very negative. Twenty per cent of the global pesticide use is for the cotton production only. Production has become a matter of large multinational companies. Indigenous varieties of cotton are threatened or lost already and many small farmers are in great debts.
Since the end of the 80’s, farmers started to convert to organic production of cotton. This conversion takes about 3 to 5 years to allow the soil to become clean again. In the last couple of years, organic production has grown enormously. During the period 2000-2005, there was an average growth of more than 75% per year. Long-term contracts and the establishment of cooperatives have proven to be of great importance.

Wool

Wool is an animal fibre, mainly derived from sheep, but also hair of other animals, such as goats, llamas, camels, horses, hare and angora rabbits. All these fibres can be processed to fabric in different ways. Wool fibres are spun to make yarn for weaving and knitting. Wool fibres can be used for felting also. Organic wool for clothing is available on a small scale only. Organic sheep farming is more labour intensive and therefore, the organic wool is still very expensive. The organic wool we us for Ethical Classics scarfs is complety organic and product in the UK.

Nettle

Nettle for clothing is centuries old. Nettle fabric is as strong as cotton and since the fibre is hollow, the fabric wears very comfortably. Cheaper synthetic fibres have pushed out nettle fabric during the 20th century. A revival of nettle takes place at the moment. The nettle we use for Ethical Classics clothing is completely organic and produced in Germany.

Shell

No plastic buttons, but real shell buttons, a renewable raw material.