Tales by Solid: Fashion

Solid’s Tales collection is produced in ethical conditions. The brand has ateliers and workplaces in India, Peru and Kenya, among others. There, Solid aims to offer employment and training opportunities to women in difficult living situations.

The Tracy scarf collection is hand-knitted in Peru. There, Solid has a workshop, Manta, in Ayacucho. Much of the local population of Ayacucho comes from indigenous Quechua communities. These communities are vulnerable to poverty, Solid wants to change this by providing safe and fair working and learning conditions. Over 150 artisans work in this workshop.

In India, Solid has a weaving and sewing workshop employing 60 artisans. The weaving mill is located in Jharkhand, northern India. This is one of the poorest regions in the country; by situating their production here, Solid aims to help improve social conditions.

It is very expensive for small production partners and workshops to become certified. To ensure that production takes place in ethical, fair and safe conditions, Solid visits production sites annually.

The Kantha collection of cardigans and bags are produced in India. The workshop recycles old saris into new products. The leftover materials are sorted by colour so no chemical dyes are needed. The saris are mainly made of cotton and silk.

The knitwear collection is produced in Peru. For the scarves Solid uses alpaca wool. Alpaca is a very soft type of wool with heat-regulating properties. The material also contains much less lanolin than sheep’s wool, making it hypoallergenic. So you get a soft scarf without itching! 

Alpaca wool naturally exists in different colours; the grey, white and sand-coloured scarves in the collection are all natural. This way, Tales by Solid makes sure they need fewer dyes.

To ensure the knits keep their shape and quality, Tales by Solid mixes acrylic with the alpaca wool. Acrylic is synthetic; the chemical production process makes this material unsustainable.

The Tales by Solid collection is very circular. The cardigans and bags are made from waste materials. The recycling process ensures that the materials do not end up in a landfill, but are given a new life. 

Unfortunately, Tales by Solid’s products themselves are not as circular. Because they are made from recycled materials, different materials are often mixed in one product. This makes the product much harder to recycle after use. The Tracy scarves are made of natural alpaca wool as well as synthetic acrylic. However, there are already better recycling techniques for knitwear.

The products do have to travel a long distance to get to you, yet Tales by Solid has a limited supply chain. The materials are always sourced from the vicinity of the production site. For example, the saris are collected in the region where the production studio is located and Alpacas originates from the region of the Manta studio in Peru.

Direct contact between Solid and the production sites is also good. This way, the brand has direct influence and control over the working environment and wages are also paid directly to the artisans.

A smaller part of the collection also includes animal materials. These are often recycled materials, which means that Tales by Solid does not need animals directly for their production. The recycled saris, for example, are typically made of silk.

Solid unfortunately gives little information about the origin of the alpaca wool. Alpacas originate in Peru, so we know that the material comes from the region of the production site. However, this gives no information about the animals’ welfare and the conditions in which they live.

Tales by Solid uses high-quality materials to ensure their products last longer. The brand also provides tips and tricks with each product, so you can care for your purchase in the best way possible.

The natural and recycled materials mean that there may be some slight differences among the products. Because everything is handmade, each product is unique. Tales by Solid also designs their products with versatile uses in mind. The Kantha cardigans, for example, are made reversible so that you can also wear them inside out. So you get two outfits for the price of one!

Tales by Solid is committed to transparency in their business processes. On their website and product pages, you will find a lot of information about the production locations. For several products, you can find out where and by whom the product was made.

Unfortunately, this transparency is not applied everywhere, for example, little is known about the origin of the alpaca wool.