Continental does not have a short supply chain. First of all, the cotton comes from Turkey, India and Egypt, and then production happens in Turkey, India, China or Bangladesh. The clothes are then shipped to Europe, or one of their distribution points in Japan or Australia. So they travel quite a distance before your logo can be embroidered on them.
Nearly all of their clothes carry the PETA-approved vegan label. You won’t find any products made of wool or leather at this brand so you know for sure no animals suffered in the making of your personalised Continental apparel. Good animal welfare guaranteed!
Continental makes all its documents, such as the Fair Wear Foundation report available on its website. This includes information about the factories where production takes place: all of these factories are members of the FWF, a good sign! They also have a video about the ‘living wage project’ in their main factory in India. Continental is being transparent, and COSH! is a fan!
Ethics
Continental’s clothes are made in Bangladesh, China, India and Turkey, in factories verified by independent third parties. Continental has been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), an international verification initiative which works to improve conditions for employees, since 2006. The brand has been awarded ‘leader’ status by the FWF’s brand performance check, which means they perform exceptionally well on issues such as living wages and freedom of association.
The code of conduct consists of a contract between Continental Clothing and Fair Wear Foundation. This code of conduct is based on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
There is a zero tolerance policy towards child labour, forced labour, discrimination against workers and excessive working hours. Mandatory requirements include: safe and healthy working conditions, legal employment contracts, living wages, freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. For products from the Fair Share collection, workers receive an extra 10 pence per t‑shirt to guarantee a ‘living wage’ as not all workers receive a ‘living wage’ yet.
A monitoring system has also been set up to ensure that the factories continue to meet the standards of the International Labour Organisation and the Ethical Trading Initiative, in addition to their certifications, which include SA8000, BSCI, SAFE and GOTS.
In support of the Environmental Justice Foundation’s (EJF) Clean Cotton Campaign, every item of clothing in Continental’s EarthPositive collection carries a label indicating the country of origin of the cotton. With this, the brand wants to show its commitment to the fight against child labour and for more rights for workers in countries such as Uzbekistan.
Continental uses cotton from Turkey, India and Egypt. Each factory Continental works with documents the origin of both organic and non-organic cotton.
Materials
What is important to know before looking at materials is that Continental has several collections, each of which features different commonly used fabrics. All of their clothes are Oeko-tex certified, which means that no harmful chemicals have been used in their production.
In the regular Continental® collection, you’ll find clothes made out of regular cotton, organic cotton, a Ecovero viscose-biocotton blend, a bamboo-biocotton blend and an organic-cotton-elastane blend. The organic cotton is GOTS-certified (Global Organic Textile Standard), and the bamboo-biocotton blend and viscose-biocotton blend are certified by the OCS (Organic Content Standard). Want to know more about organic cotton? Then read our blog post on the benefits of organic cotton. Continental’s ultimate goal is for all of their products to be organic cotton.
Most of Continental’s clothes are mono material (i.e. 100% the same type of fibre) and can therefore be easily recycled, with the exception of products from the Salvage collection. In that collection, recycled cotton fibres are mixed with recycled PET bottles, which may sound sustainable, but as a result these clothes are not recyclable or biodegradable, as the textile fibres are difficult to separate. All 100% cotton items are recyclable and biodegradable.
Clothing from the EarthPositive collection is 100% certified organic by GOTS and carries the ‘Climate Neutral’ label. This collection consists entirely of items made from organic cotton. The Fair Share collection is an extension of the EarthPositive line with only Fairtrade organic cotton being used in this collection. The Fair Share collection puts a particular focus on workers being paid the ‘living wage’. By adding 10 pence to the price per t‑shirt, Indian workers can be paid a ‘living wage’.
The Salvage collection is made out of 100% recycled materials, consisting of a blend of pre-consumer recycled organic cotton and post-consumer recycled PET bottles. Everything in the Salvage collection is thus made of a cotton-polyester blend.
Circular economy
Most of Continental’s clothes are mono material (i.e. 100% the same type of fibre) and can therefore be easily recycled, with the exception of products from the Salvage collection. In that collection, recycled cotton fibres are mixed with recycled PET bottles, which may sound sustainable, but as a result these clothes are not recyclable or biodegradable, as the textile fibres are difficult to separate. All 100% cotton items are recyclable and biodegradable.
Clothing from the EarthPositive collection is 100% organic and uses 90% less CO2. The brand achieves this CO2 emission reduction through production and transport efficiency and the use of green energy – not through carbon offsetting… This means they are tackling the problem at the core! Continental’s calculations show that an EarthPositive T‑shirt saves about 7 kilos of CO2 and a hooded jumper saves about 228 kilos of CO2. We love to hear it!
Slow fashion
Continental definitely qualifies as a slow fashion brand, they make basics like t‑shirts, jumpers, caps, totebags, trousers, all in timeless designs and fairly muted colours. Think light pink, blue, white, black, army green. There is never a motif or print on the products so there is room for your own text or logo, so this cannot go out of style either. In total, there are more than 150 colours available in Continental’s palette, although they are not available for every model. Something for everyone in their (company) style!
Looking for ethically and sustainably produced clothes to have your logo or text printed or embroidered on? Then check the map below to see where you can do that with Continental’s products.
