Americans are buying five times more apparel than we did in 1980 – a staggering 80 billion new items every year. Even more eye-opening: after a few wearings, many of these pieces head straight to a landfill – to the tune of 82 pounds of textiles annually for every man, woman and child in the country. Staggeringly brutal to the planet.
But – happily – a growing number of people are turning away from “fast fashion” to the philosophy of “quality over quantity”and the sort of clothing we offer here.
We usually start with pure organic pima cotton from a family farm on the coastal plains of Ica, Peru – hands down among the finest, softest, strongest cotton on earth.
Most of our fabrics are pre-washed at the fabric stage (not the garment stage). This time-consuming step is not common in the industry, but it insures that not only are styles pre-shrunk, they will also avoid much of the puckering that can happen around the seams with repeated washes where threads shrink differently than fabric.
And pima cotton is long-staple, meaning it will endure for years, yes years of enthusiastic use without pilling.
But ethical clothing can’t stop with a reverence for Mother Earth. We live by the mantra “we’re all in this together” which is why we work with a bustling family business that provides clean work, fair pay, and hope to hundreds of employees and cooperative owners around Peru.
You can have a satisfying long-term relationship with what you wear and take pride in what it stands for: timeless style, ethical production, and a deeper beauty that lasts and lasts.