Joline Jolink

Much of the clothing is made in Portugal and Romania. As these countries are in Europe, production is subject to European working conditions. This allows Joline Jolink to guarantee ethical working conditions, although we do not know how things are at the production sites where the materials are harvested or produced and processed into fabric. 

Part of the collection is produced outside Europe. All denim clothing is made by a Turkish producer in Istanbul. Both the raw materials and the finished clothes are produced here. Joline Jolink has a long-standing and close cooperation with this producer, making the brand confident that production takes place in safe and fair working conditions. The organic cotton also has the GOTS certificate, which checks the working conditions in the factories.

Finally, some garments are produced in China. Unfortunately, little information is known about this so we cannot assess whether these clothes are ethically made.

Joline Jolink uses a lot of natural materials in their collection. The clothes are made of organic cotton, linen and Tencel. The latter material is a soft fabric made of cellulose from eucalyptus wood, sourced from sustainably managed forests.

The most commonly used material in the Joline Jolink collection is organic cotton. The material is certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). This certificate shows that no chemicals are used in the production process. Working conditions are also monitored. Several Joline Jolink garments consist partly of recycled cotton, which was mixed with, for example, new organic cotton for the quality of the garment. 

The brand still uses synthetic materials such as elastane or recycled polyester from time to time. The elastane is needed to create stretch so that the clothes fit comfortably. By increasing the comfort of the clothes, Joline Jolink wants to ensure that a garment is worn more and longer.

Besides clothes, we find a biodegradable, vegan and plastic-free trainer at Joline Jolink! The sole is made of natural rubber with a footbed made of recycled cork. The canvas material on the upper of the trainer is also natural, made of organic cotton. The details are made of apple leather and the lining fabric is made from residuals from the corn industry.

Part of Joline Jolink’s clothing is made from deadstock materials. These are leftover fabrics from other brands or manufacturers. This way, surpluses can still get a life instead of being destroyed and Joline Jolink gets the chance to use more luxurious materials without the need for new raw materials. By using fabric surpluses, Joline Jolink cannot determine which materials the fabrics are made of. As a result, synthetic materials such as polyester may still have been used in the collection.

Joline Jolink uses upcycled overstock from her supplier so they are not wasted. So no new raw materials have been tapped for the clothes made from these fabrics. Recycled polyester is also sometimes used in the garments. 

Although some garments are biodegradable because they consist entirely of natural materials, this is not the case for several garments due to the addition of elastane. This mixing of different materials makes the garments more difficult to recycle. Fortunately, the percentages of elastane in the clothes are very low.

Joline Jolink did take a big step with her biodegradable, vegan and plastic-free trainer, a good example of circular design!

In addition, Joline Jolink is also moving towards a circular business model by launching a second-hand platform. If your garment is still in usable condition, you can hand it in to the brand on one of collection days. They will select, check and repair the clothes, if necessary, to then sell it second-hand. Since July 2021, you can find a second-hand collection in all Joline Jolink shops under the name ​‘New Love’.

Part of Joline Jolink’s clothing is produced close to home, for instance in Portugal and Romania. The Dutch brand also has collaborations with local Dutch textile producers such as Enschede Textielstad.

But some production also takes place in non-European countries, such as Turkey and China. Because the origin of the materials is not known, COSH! Cannot fully assess whether the brand has a short chain.

The majority of Joline Jolink’s clothes do not use animals. For example, the leather used in garments is vegan, made from polyester and the trainers are made from organic cotton and apple leather with a footbed made from plant residues. The labels on the jeans are also made of vegan apple leather.

The brand also uses wool in their collection. Some of this wool comes from recycled deadstock, so no animals are directly involved. Joline Jolink also has a collaboration with a sheep farmer in Limburg. The brand thus designed a winter coat made from Dutch wool. The Kempische Heideschapen graze there as a function of nature management, with their wool previously being a waste product.

In addition, the brand sometimes uses other sheep’s wool. To ensure these materials are sustainable and animal-friendly, Joline Jolink uses only mulesing-free and organic wool.

With this brand, you will find clothes that are always appropriate, that you can combine casually or for business and that you can wear in any season or year. Black, white, pastel shades, green, red, pink and orange are among the colours in the brand’s palette, allowing you to build a varied wardrobe. In terms of prints, you will see stripes and checks. Joline Jolink mainly has loose-fitting clothes, but also more fitted cuts so you can find what you like on your body. This way, you can wear this brand’s pieces for years and combine them with the rest of your wardrobe.

Recently, Joline Jolink imposed a production limit on themselves. The brand wants to produce a maximum of 20 000 garments a year to prevent overproduction and overconsumption. In this way, Joline wants to focus on improving the designs and shows the way to a more sustainable and circular way of doing business.

Here, the growth of the second-hand platform ​‘New Love’ is also an important one. It shows that people want to co-invest in the quality and longevity of their Joline Jolink purchases.

Joline Jolink cares about ethical working conditions and therefore produces much of its collection in Europe. Unfortunately, we don’t know much information about the factories; the brand only communicates the production countries. On top of that, the origin of the materials is often not traceable either. As a result, the brand does not score well in terms of transparency.