Aarden

Production Locations

• Czech Republic (over 80% of suit production)
• Morocco
• Netherlands (Arnhem studio atelier, where costumers choose their fabrics and are measured)

Working Conditions & Living Wages

The suits are tailored in the Czech Republic and Morocco. The brand states that its Czech ateliers, which handle more than 80% of production, operate under EU labour law, which guarantees legally set minimum wages and working conditions. Aarden claims these wages amount to a living wage.

Aarden says its team has visited the Czech atelier in person to check that the suits are made under safe conditions.

The Moroccan workshop is run by a Dutch producer working to Dutch production standards. The brand states this producer holds ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 and is an Amfori BSCI member. Amfori BSCI monitors social working conditions.

Fabric suppliers sit in the Netherlands, France and the UK. 

The member-run Aarden cooperative, which the brand says launched on 7 September 2023 at Museum Arnhem, is built around transparency and partnership.

Materials

• Recycled cotton
• Recycled wool (partly from cutting-room offcuts from the fashion industry)
• Virgin wool (Responsible Wool Standard certified)
• Hemp
• Linen
• Egyptian cotton
• Tencel
• Recycled denim
• Bamboo
• Buttons: casein, stone-nut (tagua), wood, (buffalo) horn or bone

The brand states that around 50% of its fabrics come from a Dutch producer of fabrics made from recycled and natural raw materials. Aarden states that it works with fabrics carrying the BlueSign labels, that focuses on responsible chemical use and resource management in textile production. 

Recycled fibres reduce the need for virgin resources. 

Packaging

No information available on the packaging. 

Water Usage & Chemicals

Aarden states that some of its fabrics carry the BlueSign label, a certification that sets requirements for responsible chemical management and resource use during textile production. 

Circular Product Design

Its made-to-measure suits often blend fibres which are generally harder to recycle at end of life than single-fibre garments. 

Small repairs, and even decorative darning or a leaf-shaped appliqué, can be added at the atelier, so a garment gains character rather than being discarded.

Circular Business Models

Aarden offers a repair service for minor damage, carried out at its own workshop to extend the life of the suits. The brand describes these visible mends, a darned spot or an embroidered detail, as ​“scars” that give a garment its own soul. 

The brand also runs a take-back service: customers can return a suit they no longer wear in exchange for a discount on a new one. On its website Aarden is candid about the limits of this. It says there are currently no small-scale recycling facilities able to process its volumes, so for now it stores returned garments until a suitable recycling or reuse solution becomes available, rather than claiming they are already recycled. 

Distance & Complexity of the Supply Chain

• Production locations: Czech Republic, Morocco
• Wool: Australia or South America or South Africa 
• Fabric suppliers: Netherlands, France, UK (around 50% via the Netherlands)
• HQ: Arnhem, Netherlands

Transportation

• Aarden frames its Arnhem and The Hague pick-up points as a deliberate logistics choice. It prefers customers to travel once themselves rather than shipping many parcels over long distances. 
• Through its partner Unfootprint, Aarden plants a fruit tree in a Dutch food forest for every suit sold. Aarden presents this as part of a step-by-step effort to reduce its CO2 footprint and support biodiversity. 

• Recycled wool 
• Virgin wool
• (Buffalo) horn 
• Bone buttons

The virgin wool carries the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) label, under which an independent organisation monitors the sheep’s living conditions. For its virgin wool, which the brand calls ​“ecowool”, Aarden says the fibre is fully traceable to its source and produced without artificial fertiliser, hormone treatments or genetically modified feed, with animal welfare as the starting point.

Raw wool for these fabrics may come from Australia, South Africa or South America. 

For customers who prefer no animal materials at all, Aarden offers a vegan line.

Product Design

Aarden makes expertly tailored suits, shirts, jackets, waistcoats, trousers and wedding suits. It caters to both men and women, and everything is made to the customer’s individual measurements. 
A vegan version is available across the range.

Slow Fashion Processes

Every item is made to measure and made to order, so pieces are produced only when someone buys them, which avoids overproduction and the destruction of unsold stock. 

The member-run cooperative supports gradual, long-term wardrobe building, and the brand deliberately avoids low-wage production countries, cheapest-possible materials and mass production for maximum margin.

Transparency on Product

In the Arnhem atelier, customers receive detailed information about the materials and fabric origins of their suit. Through the Unfootprint partnership, they also receive confirmation of which tree was planted and where, giving a traceable link to the brand’s planting programme.

Transparency on Processes

Because customers can visit the Arnhem headquarters in person, the brand stays genuinely approachable and transparent: customers can ask questions directly, see the operation for themselves and stay in direct contact with the label.