Native Spirit

Native Spirit produces most of their garments (70%) in Bangladesh, other countries where their products are made are India, China and Italy. The brand states they choose to produce here because it’s difficult to do all of their textile manufacturing in Europe and because countries in which the fashion and the textiles industry have been based for years (like Bangladesh) would suffer from a big decline in demand if all production would be relocated to Europe.

Native Spirit audits their production sites regularly to keep an eye on the quality of their products and the working conditions. Partners of the brand who are certified by organizations like SEDEX, SA 8000 (an international standard that recognises decent working conditions), BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) and WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) ensure that social and ethical rules are applied.

Besides, the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and GRS (Global Recycled Standard) which the brand works with, set standards for working conditions. The brand also claims that the factories they work with are carefully chosen because of their expertise and social, ethical and environmental commitments. Most of their factories hold the OEKO-TEX® certification, 98% are Social Factory compliant and their goal is to reach 100%. COSH! loves to see the effort Native Spirit puts into their environmental and social commitments.

Native Spirit uses eco-friendly, organic and recycled fabrics. These include linen, Tencel lyocell, Modal, organic cotton, recycled pre-consumer cotton and recycled polyester. The brand mentions they are currently researching even more sustainable materials to use in their future collections, such as hemp, cork and jute, we love it!

First we’ll talk about the natural materials. Both Tencel lyocell and modal are made of wood pulp out of responsibly managed forests, linen is made from flax plants. The organic cotton the brand uses is either OCS (Organic Content Standard) or GOTS certified, this way you can be sure the cotton t‑shirt or pants are really made of organic cotton. The brand also uses pre-consumer recycled cotton, this means the cotton comes from waste streams during the manufacturing process.

The only synthetic material Native Spirit uses is recycled polyester, which, just like the recycled cotton, is a circular material! The recycled polyester is certified by the GRS, guaranteed to be recycled. The recycled polyester is often blended with recycled cotton, making the material very durable but also hard to recycle. At COSH! we prefer natural materials because they are biodegradable. If the clothes then end up in nature, it doesn’t do any harm to the environment.

Furthermore, 98% of the factories Native Spirit works with are OEKO-TEX certified, meaning no harmful chemicals are used to create these clothes.

Some clothes of this brand are easily recyclable or biodegradable. For example there are items made of 100% Tencel or organic cotton, those are biodegradable because they are natural fibres and the cotton is also recyclable. Native Spirit also has products that are made of a mix of recycled cotton and recycled polyester, which sounds great and circular because they consist of 100% recycled materials! But it also means that they aren’t recyclable again. Because the materials are mixed, it is difficult to separate the fibres in order to recycle them. That’s why at COSH!, we prefer mono materials, materials that consist of only one type of fibres.

We can’t really categorize Native Spirit as a brand with a short supply chain since the factories they work with are mostly located in Asia. After production the clothes will need to travel a long distance to Europe (where the headquarters are based).

Native Spirit is doing a great job in terms of animal welfare, they don’t use materials derived from animals (like wool and leather) to create their products and most of their clothes are certified as vegan by Expertise Vegan Europe and therefore carries the EVE VEGAN label. This way you can be sure that no animals were harmed to create your eco-friendly clothing!

Native Spirit can definitely be seen as a slow fashion brand, the designs are basic and the brand prioritises quality so you’ll be able to wear these clothes for years to come. Most items are designed to be minimalistic and are never decorated with bold prints. Although the t‑shirts, sweaters, jackets and pants are available in a wide variety of colours. These colours are said to be inspired by nature and include volcanic greys, shades of ocean blue, Amazonian greens and fruity colours. It’s simply impossible to not find a colour you like at this brand!

In terms of transparency, Native Spirit can do better. They mention in what countries their clothing is produced and what certifications the products comply with but never in what factory the production has taken place exactly. We would love to know more about this! Especially because the brand recognises the importance of ethical production. 

When we’re talking about material transparency the brand is doing alright, for example they mention how many PET bottles were used for each product made of recycled polyester.