Producing textile products is quite complex, especially when working with technical and functional materials, as often used in the outdoors. We strive to use the most responsible materials and production options and we are constantly searching for new and better ways.
As a part of this search, we believe that transparency plays an extremely important role. Once one fully understand the complexity of production, one can start to change it and that is why we also want to share the true story behind our products.
You know that small label inside all clothing that states “made in”, what does that actually mean?
You might think that it states the country where your product has been made in, but that’s only the very final step of production and a very small part of the truth. To really understand where a product has been made you have to break it down into all its components.
But let’s start from a finished garment and work our way back, and let’s look at one of our products, the Lupin Merino wool and Tencel t-shirt.
The final level of production is the assembly. This is where the garment is cut and sewn together.
This level can be called tier 1.
The country where tier 1 takes place is stated on the small care-label inside your clothes. Our t-shirt is sewn in Latvia and that is the final step of production and also what is stated inside the t-shirt.
1. The fabric.
2. The thread.
3. The care-label (with the “made in” text)
4. The brand neck label.
5. The small brand label in the side seam.
All these components are almost never produced in the same country as where the product is sewn.
This level of production can be called tier 2 and this information is almost never communicated to you. Let’s look at our list again.
1. The fabric.
Knitted in Sweden, dyed in Poland.
2. The thread.
Spun in India and Thailand.
3. The care-label (with the “made in” text).
Weaved and finished in China.
4. The brand neck label.
Weaved and finished in China.
5. The small brand label in the side seam.
Weaved and finished in China.
As you can see we have now added 5 more countries to the list. And as you can see, even tier 2 can involve more than one country for making one component.
But this is only level 2 and these are the countries where the components, which are also products, have been assembled. The materials for these components rarely originates from the same country as they have been produced in.
Let's dig deeper and this level of production can be called tier 3.
Before a fabric can be knitted or a label can be woven, we need yarn. Let’s look at our list again.