Throughout this process I have had to rely heavily on suppliers. These suppliers have provided me with the materials and technology in order to create my first collection. The suppliers I used within my project have been critiqued with similar competitors in order to gain the best results. I completed most of this work during the Process module and my first Major Project submission. In this post I intend to report on all the different suppliers I have used in my brand so far, whilst reinforcing their claims of sustainability.
The main supplier I used in this project is AM Clothing. AM Clothing provided the garments for my collection. I chose this supplier as they offered a quality product at a reasonable price. AM Clothing also had a lot of credibility for being the biggest supplier of sustainable custom clothing in the United Kingdom. They are committed to genuine sustainability throughout their supply chain; from the raw materials to the finished product, shipping & marketing. Further details on AM Clothing’s sustainability can be found in my Process blog.
To embroider aspects of my first collection I had to ensure the thread I was using was fully sustainable. To do this I sourced my thread from the Organic Textile Company. This was recommended to me by the embroidery technician as I had to ensure the thread was compatible with the Amaya. This particular cotton has been produced without the use of harmful chemicals, using fair trade qualities. This cotton came on a reel which I could then tread onto the Amaya and begin my embroidery.
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| Organic Textile Company (Source: Screenshot by Blog Author) |
In my project I decided to outsource the production of all my clothing labels. I did this as I believed I could achieve a high quality whilst saving time. I had experimented with different types of labels within my first submission and ultimately decided on a taffeta woven material. Taffeta is the most economical woven label available and is priced lower than damask and satin. The label shown below was sourced from The Dutch Label Shop. I had to ensure I communicated constantly with the supplier in order for the sizing and quality to be correct. My final label is shown below, this was attached to all of the pieces within my first collection. I further used the supplier to produce the tab in the Classic Plain Tee.
For all my packaging used in my first collection I utilised the supplier Tiny Box Company shown in the link below. This company was able to provide me with paper-based products that have been created from recyclable materials. This packaging then has the ability to be recycled again, therefore furthering the life cycle. I used this supplier to source my mailing box design and label card tags, this ensures I am sending a product to the consumer that is fully sustainable in every corner of the business in order to then reflect my overall company motive.
I am very happy with all the suppliers I have used within my brand so far. I have managed to ensure I keep the idea of sustainability throughout my materials and processes. This has also taught me a lot about supply chain and the ability to source the cheapest products. Communication with suppliers is something I had never really done before. Most of this was done via email or phone calls. I had to ensure the supplier new exactly what I wanted so that I did not waste time and money, this often meant sending a detailed mock-up of what I wanted my product to look like. In the future some of these suppliers could change if I decided to scale my business up. To do this I will need to look at suppliers which I can gain the most bulk order margin from whilst still keeping the vital notion of sustainability.
