RECYCLED FABRIC

In order to do less harm to the planet we decided to replace the fabrics used in our wool shirts. This year we've started to work with an Italian company called Manteco who are specialised in recycled fabrics. By using recycled materials we now take a step further towards reducing our impact on natural resources and our aim to become more circular brand.  

History

Manteco is a true pioneer within recycled materials and started already in the early 1940’s by collecting old military garments and turned them into “new” yarns. Due to the war, there was very limited supplies of new raw material, which gave the founder of Manteco the idea to start recycling these old garments. 

They have the world’s first, and still the only, recycled wool fabrics to be assessed by an LCA (Life-cycle-assessment) study to calculate it’s environmental impact. Below you can see the result for the fabric used in our boxy shirt.  

Process

The technique is the same today as it was when they first started. All the garments coming in are first sorted by color and composition, with all embroideries, labels and accessories removed.

They are then shredded thru a mechanical and wet process to be brought back to their fiber state, all without using any added chemicals.  

After this the different colors are blended, without adding any new dyes, to create the desired shade. This is thanks to all the pre- and post-consumer garments that already come dyed from their former life. 

After the color recipe is finished the fibers are sent to the spinning department, which will turn them into new yarns. The yarns are then put on a loom and woven to create a new fabric, which finally can be finished in different ways to create the look we are after. 

The finished fabric is shipped out to the factories we work with here in Sweden where they are cut and sewn into new garments again! 

Final words

If you buy (or have bought) a garment from us, please don’t throw it away if you for some reason don’t want it anymore. Give it to a friend, sell it 2nd hand or send it back to us and we will make sure it gets a new life. Either in a different home or back to Italy where it can start over the process above once more. 

Thank you!