The production cycle
The central idea behind eco-design is closing product lifecycles. While making clothing, we use energy and raw materials. Closing the cycle means we reuse leftovers from cutting and the fabric after the clothing has been used. In the following, the various steps in the lifecycle of our products are explained.
The design: from need to fulfilment
Clothing is a personal matter. It shows who you are, how you feel, what you are doing. My designs try to facilitate this. This is of course easier if you can create a personal design, such as the tailor-made design of the Prinsjesdagpak for Lia Roefs, a former colleague. The designs for the classic collection have been designed on the basis of what I heard from people when asked for their needs for a basic set of clothes. The clothing is designed in such a way that it best fulfils the need for stylish, human and eco-friendly clothing.
Production of raw material: from seed to thread
The raw materials used in the Ethical Classics clothing are entirely organic. We use organic cotton from countries such as India, Tanzania and Turkey. One of our suppliers is helping farmers since 1991 in India and since 1994 in Tanzania to convert to organic production. Their interpretation of human friendly means that they have established long-term partnerships and they pay a fair price for the cotton by guaranteeing the purchase for several years and by paying a premium. Eco-friendly means using production techniques, which are both healthy for the farmers and for the soil. They use no chemical fertilizers and pesticides, no chlorine and formaldehyde, but environmentally friendly dyes and waste water management. Production takes place in accordance with EU Directive 2092/91.
Cloth production: from thread to cloth
We have various suppliers of organic fabric. Some of them have weavers close to the farmers, such as in India and Turkey. In India, the weavers still use handlooms, some others use mechanic looms. In Turkey, it is mainly mechanic which are used. Another supplier takes the raw material to Germany where they can combine the cotton with other organic materials such as nettle.
Clothing production: from cloth to clothing
Reducing the number of miles for the production of clothing, and thus the CO2-emissions, is one of the options to avoid climate change. Cotton does not grow in the northwest of Europe but here, we can make the clothing so it doesn’t have to travel half the world. The production of the clothing for Ethical Classics takes place as close as possible to the client: in the Netherlands, Germany and Scotland. We have our clothing produced in small clothing factories where labour conditions are of a high standard. Furthermore, we believe that disabled people do not have to be restricted to sitting home but can be employed. These people, despite their limitations, make part of our collection as well.
Sales: order from home, delivered at home
For convenience’s sake, ethical clothing should be easy to buy: no endless searches or walking along many shops, but simple ordering via the Internet. Wherever you are, you can make your choice and have it delivered to a place that suits you best. To make sure you will receive your orders in time and in good order, we have our service centre.
Collection and recycling: the closing link of the product life cycle
To prevent as much as possible the loss of material, we will reuse the leftovers from cutting the blouses and shirts and the fabric and other materials of the garments when they return after use. This can be done in several ways. We can reuse parts of the fabric, e.g. for bags or envelopes for the gift vouchers. We can cut the fabric in small pieces to make paper out of it. We even can reuse the fibres of the fabric to make new yarn. In doing so, we close the product lifecycle of our clothing.
