Kaiko

Materials

The tops, dre­sses and suits are mos­tly made from orga­nic and oeko-tex cer­ti­fi­ed cot­ton. This means that Kaiko can guaran­tee eco-fri­end­ly texti­le production. 

The brand also uses 100% linen and 100% lyo­cell clot­hing. Lyo­cell is a more sus­ta­ina­ble alter­na­ti­ve to cot­ton (which requ­ires a lot of water to pro­du­ce). Lyo­cell is made from eucalyp­tus fibres grown in Por­tu­gu­ese forests. 

Clot­hing made from one type of mate­ri­al is easi­er to recy­cle. Howe­ver, we found some of the clot­hes had 5% elas­ta­ne which is less sus­ta­ina­ble and makes it more dif­fi­cult to recy­cle. This is a con­s­ci­ous cho­ice on behalf of Kaiko to ensu­re the clot­hes are stret­c­hy and fit all bodi­es per­fec­tly. Clot­hes that fit you well will be worn more and the­re­fo­re be used more so we res­pect the­ir decision.

Vegan

Kaiko has a wide ran­ge of clot­hing that does not con­ta­in ani­mal mate­ri­als, but the brand is not 100% vegan. For his warm car­di­gans, Kaiko makes use of mule­sing-free meri­no wool, and alpa­ca wool.

Ethical

The pro­duc­ti­on of Kaiko is spre­ad over seve­ral coun­tri­es wor­l­dwi­de. The car­di­gans are made in Esto­nia, the orga­nic stoc­kin­gs in Italy and the cash­me­re tur­tle­nec­ks in Nepal. Foun­der Mir­jan Sok­ka beli­eves it is impor­tant to sup­port women wor­l­dwi­de. That’s why Kaiko regu­lar­ly dona­tes money to the edu­ca­ti­on of Nepa­le­se women: 7% of all pro­ce­eds goes to women and chil­dren in Nepal.

The other skirts, pul­lo­vers, jum­p­su­its and dre­sses are made in Por­tu­gal. Most of them in a Cot­ton­ho­use Lda Fac­tory in the nor­th of Por­tu­gal. This Fin­nish com­pany only employs 65 wor­kers. Depen­ding on the­ir posi­ti­on, they are paid at least mini­mum wage or more. In addi­ti­on, all employe­es rece­ive pri­va­te heal­th care. Any over­ti­me is agre­ed and remu­ne­ra­ted in agre­ement with the employee. Accor­ding to the new Por­tu­gu­ese col­lec­ti­ve labo­ur agre­ement for the texti­le indus­try, employe­es can work over­ti­me up to 2 hours/​day and a maxi­mum of 200 hours over a year if necessary. 

The Fin­nish CEO of Cot­ton­ho­use Riik­ka Keski-Vähälä de Oli­ve­ira is res­pon­si­ble for the employe­es, pur­c­ha­ses and pro­duc­ts. She ensu­res that sup­pli­ers and part­ners adhe­re to the­ir envi­ron­men­tal and ethi­cal valu­es.