6 GREAT BRANDS DOING GREAT THINGS

Written by The Sustainable Buyer

Despite the negative press surrounding many retailers refusing to pay suppliers, there are some fashion industry players playing fairly. There are even some going that extra mile by supporting our communities and healthcare systems!  In these uncertain times it’s amazing to see the private sector get so involved. Whether it’s through financial aid, manufacturing or transporting much needed supplies. We wanted to focus on the great brands that are doing great things. Here’s a short round up…

  1. New Zealand footwear brand All Birds has donated $500,000 worth of their signature wool runners to healthcare workers on the front line in the US. The brand announced it late March on Instagram and received an overwhelming response. They have since changed their approach to a ‘buy one, give one’ whereby the brand will split the cost of donating a pair of Wool Runners when a customer purchases a pair of All Birds. 

@allbirds

  1. UK Fashion Rental company By Rotation (the self proclaimed AirBnB of fashion) is offering free rental to anyone who for the UK’s NHS for their next party, date or holiday when the pandemic is over. 

@byrotationofficial

  1. Californian womenswear brand, Reformation have joined up forces with the City of LA and LA Protects to produce non-medical grade masks in their LA factory to combat the current shortage to ensure that medical standard masks are available for those on the frontline. You can buy the masks for your own use or / and donate them to those in need!

@reformation

  1. UK based Community Clothing are manufacturing scrubs for the UK National Health Service. It was a quick turnaround with specifications arriving, patterns cut out and samples made – all in the same day! Then the samples were inspected and approved the following morning which gave the go ahead for the bulk of fabric to go into cutting. The first batch (700 pairs!) was ready just 3 days after approval! Great effort!

@community_clothing

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The first NHS scrubs came off the line at our Cookson & Clegg factory in Blackburn, using specialist fabric from Pincroft in Chorley, another Community Clothing partner factory. Others CC partners will be joining this effort next week. I am incredibly proud of all of the staff involved in what has been a monumental effort. Technical specifications arrived at 10am Tuesday, patterns were cut out and samples were made by Tuesday night, samples were inspected and approved by NHS supplier Alsico in Preston at 10am on Wednesday, bulk fabric was forklifted off the lorry at 3pm Wednesday, and went straight into the cutting room. The first 700 pairs went onto the sewing line at 2pm on Thursday afternoon and the first pieces reached the end of the line by 4pm Friday. Three days for a process that would normally take about 3 months, and all achieved under incredibly strict new working practices, at a time of great personal anxiety to many. This crisis is terrible, but if any good can come of it perhaps it might be that it brings home to us, in a way that perhaps nothing else could have, that people who know how to make things are of vital importance, that they deserve our absolute respect, and they deserve to be valued. Sincerely Patrick Grant @patrickgrantism Founder

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5. Isle of Wight, UK based company Rapanui are helping out their local health service by creating protective equipments and setting aside one tonne of organic cotton for community groups to make masks! As if that wasn’t enough they have also increased funding for charities using their partner business Teemill.

@rapanuiclothing

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On a normal day, Adam builds robots that help make #sustainability affordable. Witness a spanner wrangling superhero in action. And when our local NHS team called and asked if we could do a little more PPE stuff, he responded to the call of duty. The challenge with 3D printing is that it can be a bit slow, but engineering is about solutions. He immediately volunteered to take home all our printers and establish a 24hr manufacturing command center in his house so we wouldn't let the local hospital down over Easter. That's the kind of guy he is. Give him a shout-out in the comments for being a dude (and maybe his amazing gf for putting up with the noise and chaos), & swipe across to see the mask holders and visor clips we're donating. #cheersadam #thankyounhs #helpournhs #3dprinting

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6. From dungarees to scrubs, UK based Lucy and Yak are supporting the UK National Health service and encouraging others to get involved by making scrubs! They’ve helpfully listed the local community groups making scrubs in the UK on their site. There’s also discount for UK health service workers and they did a giveaway for key workers! Lucy and Yak also work closely with a factory in India and have set up a JustGiving page for the factory owner to support local families in need!

@lucyandyak

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🎉Our first batch of scrubs are off to the NHS!🎉⁣ ⁣ Our wonderful UK seamstresses Amanda & Carol have been making scrubs for NHS staff that desperately need it! ⁣💛 ⁣ Up and down the country people are dusting down their sewing machines to make scrubs, caps and bags for NHS teams who need them.⁣ ⁣ We are delighted that we are able to lend our tailors to this amazing cause! 🧵⁣ ⁣ If you’d like to know more head to our blog ‘For the love of Scrubs – Sewing for the NHS’ 💙 ⁣ ⁣ We also wanted to send some thank you’s that could be worn outside of work! So, we’ve sent a box of Lucy & Yak goodies to our local hospitals in Barnsley and Brighton 🌈⁣ ⁣ Thank you again to all the amazing NHS staff for your hard work and bravery 💜👏🌟⁣ ⁣

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Cover photo courtesy of Reformation