SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Vegetable tanning is an organic way to treat leather and dates back to 6000 B.C. It is dyed using environmental tannins such as berries, bark, and foliage.This results in colors that are rich and deep in natural earthy tones such as browns, beiges, yellows and reds. Vegetable-tanned leather also has a distinctively sweet, woody fragrance because of the natural tannins used in the treatment.

This form of tanning is much better for the environment and results in a high quality, unique, textured leather. The process involves several weeks of treatment which allows vegetable tanned leather to have a much longer life than chrome tanned leather.

Based on the craftsmanship and careful use of traditional techniques developed over centuries, the vegetable tanning process results in leather with a distinct appearance and unmatched durability. 

Cork is a sustainable natural fiber, made from the soft bark of a tree native to southwest Europe and northwest Africa. Portugal’s Iberian peninsula produces approximately half of cork harvested annually worldwide. Cork is biodegradable, renewable and completely recyclable. 

As a natural material, it has been used for over 5000 years for sealing and floating devices, since Roman times as a stopper for wine, and the Ancient Greeks also used cork to manufacture sandal footwear. Popping the cork, a part of many celebratory traditions around the world most certainly gained its notoriety in the seventeenth century when Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon used cork stoppers tied with a string to seal the bottles of his famous champagne.  

Today designers are beginning to explore fashion applications for cork. Cork Fabric or Cork leather is being developed into everything from performance athletic gear to bulletproof vests and space suits. In fact plant-based leathers are the hottest trend in sustainable fashion. Cork is durable, a great insulator and is naturally stain resistant and water repellent making it an ideal material for bags and small leather goods.

A collaborative project to eradicate Thailand's waterways of the highly invasive water hyacinth, while providing jobs to artisans. Water Hyacinth is one of the fastest growing plants, through mankind it has made its way around the world to become a nasty, invasive species on our planet. A single hectare can contain more than 360 metric tons of plant biomass. Considered a noxious weed species in more than 50 countries, it is populates rapidly and negatively affects the surrounding environment. 

Water hyacinth is used for making textiles, paper and for camouflaging fish traps. It ferments rapidly due to its high water content and can supply biomass for biogas production. 

Not only is fix the oldest fiber known to be used by humans, but it is one of the most sustainable fibers you can use as well. Traditionally, every part of the earth friendly flax plant has been used to create worthwhile products - nothing is waster and production is cost effective. 

Flax is used to create our 100% Euroflax Linen shirts. We love linen for it is intrinsically hypoallergenic, anti-bacterial fabric with a soothing hand. It also has great thermo regulating properties, providing coolness in hot weather and warmth in cool weather.