Rita Row

Rita Row works with 4 different factories, all in Barcelona. There, the knitted fabrics are made and other fabrics are cut to size.

Rita Row designs in Spain. And all the fabrics are made in Western Europe, mostly in France and Italy. By choosing to produce in Spain, Rita Row supports local entrepreneurs. It also gives the brand the opportunity to closely monitor the entire production chain and to ensure that all garments are made in good labour conditions. The threads and fabrics all come from Europe (Spain, Italy, and France) and most of the fabrics are claimed to have ecological certifications, but these are not available for the consumers to verify.

Rita Row talks openly on its website about the production process of its garments. Even so, the brand can be much more transparent by showing, for example, which suppliers it works with.
The Clean Clothes, Fair Pay organization has released a report on the wage gap in the industry in different countries. In this report it is stated that even in EU countries such as Spain and Portugal, a fair living wage is not always guaranteed. Because of this, COSH! would like to see a bit more transparency from Rita Row to be able to verify the working conditions in the factories.

The brand wants to evolve into a 100% natural collection, but Rita Row uses many sustainable materials. For example, the spring and summer collection of 2018 consisted mainly of Tencel®, GOTS certified organic cotton and recycled knitwear. What that recycled knitwear really is, Rita Row is vague about. Is it recycled yarn or old knitwear that has been cut up and reused? We have no idea. So Rita Row: let us know!

For the winter collection 18 – 19, Rita Row already used mostly natural fabrics (viscose, merino wool and virgin wool). All these fabrics supposedly come with the right certificates that guarantee their origin and durability! But the brand also uses a lot of conventional polyester, which does no favours to the environment. 

Not quite circular. Because although Rita Row does work with recycled knitwear (but that term is vague, see also in the planet section above), the brand can focus even more on circular design.

The claim to use recycled materials also gives no information about the recyclability of the clothing. If the clothes exist of a mix of different materials, it is often very difficult to recycle them at the end-of-life stage.

This brand is located in Spain, and conducts all its production and sourcing activities within Europe, keeping the supply chain quite short. However, they do not mention their transportation methods, which makes a huge difference on their footprint regardless the length of the supply chain. 

The brand distributes their collections globally, which also influences the environmental impact and the length of their supply chain.

Rita Row does use some animal materials such as leather and wool, but does not provide any details regarding the ethical sourcing of these products. This is detrimental to the animal wellbeing, as we cannot find any information about the living conditions of the animals.

Rita Row is durable, elegant and edgy. And meant to last for years.
As they state on their website: the brand established a clear objective: to craft elegant and functional clothing. The Rita women symbolizes someone in search of comfort, quality and style, acting as a fictional muse to the designers.
Every collection draws inspiration from a theme, resulting in delicate and simple garments mixed with a modern, urban charm. The designs are like a sea-inspired Mediterranean breeze through your closet.

Rita Row still has a very long way to go regarding transparency. They provide some level of information in the form of story telling, regarding their production and sourcing, however, we would like to see more concrete details in order to believe their claims of fair production and sustainable materials. We would also love to see their certifications, packaging materials, and transportation methods.