Kuyichi

PRO­DUC­TI­ON LOCATIONS

• Tur­key
• Aus­tria
• Pakis­tan
• Moroc­co
• Spa­in
• Italy

WOR­KING CON­DI­TI­ONS & LIVING WAGES 

Kuyic­hi sta­tes that all the­ir pro­duc­ts are made by people who are tre­ated and paid rig­ht. The­ir Soci­al Report sta­tes that they are recog­ni­sed as a ​‘Leader’ by the Fair Wear Foun­da­ti­on, for the­ir com­mit­ment to impro­ving wor­king con­di­ti­ons in the­ir fac­to­ri­es. The brand aims to build long term sup­pli­er rela­ti­on­ships, and requ­ires the­ir sup­pli­ers to sign the­ir Code of Con­duct. 

Kuyic­hi has publi­shed a full list of the­ir sup­pli­ers, inclu­ding when they were last audited. 

MATE­RI­ALS 

• Orga­nic cotton
• Rege­ne­ra­ti­ve cotton
• Recy­cled cotton
• Ten­cel and Eco­cel Lyocell
• Ten­cel Modal
• Linen
• Hemp
• Recy­cled polyester
• Vege­ta­ble tan­ned leather
• Vegan leat­her alter­na­ti­ve- Jacron 
   

Kuyic­hi pri­ma­rily uses natu­ral, plant-based mate­ri­als. Sin­ce 2016, all the vir­gin cot­ton used by Kuyic­hi has been cer­ti­fi­ed orga­nic. The­ir recy­cled cot­ton is made from both pre- and post-con­su­mer was­te, and the­re­fo­re requ­ires fewer reso­ur­ces. Kuyic­hi also uses linen, sour­ced from Euro­pe, and hemp. 

Kuyic­hi also uses Ten­cel lyo­cell and modal; man-made plant-based fibres, pro­du­ced from wood. 

Kuyic­hi has repla­ced the leat­her pat­c­hes on the back of the­ir jeans with jacron pat­c­hes. This is a vegan leat­her alter­na­ti­ve pro­du­ced from a blend of corn polyols, cot­ton, and polyu­ret­ha­ne (PU). 

PAC­KA­GING 

Kuyichi’s Sus­ta­ina­bi­lity Report sta­tes that they are aiming to redu­ce the­ir use of polybags, and only use them for tops and lig­ht colo­ured jeans. The brand has also swit­c­hed from poten­ti­al­ly com­pos­ta­ble ship­ping bags to paper mailers, as the­se are easi­er to pro­per­ly dis­po­se of. 

WATER USA­GE & CHEMICALS 

Kuyic­hi sta­tes that all the­ir vir­gin cot­ton is stric­tly orga­nic. Orga­nic cot­ton is pro­du­ced wit­ho­ut arti­fi­ci­al fer­ti­li­sers and pes­ti­ci­des, and requ­ires less water to grow. 

Howe­ver, Kuyic­hi recog­ni­ses that even orga­nic cot­ton requ­ires high volu­mes of water, which is why they also use lower impact mate­ri­als, such as linen and hemp. Kuyic­hi is also wor­king to use more recy­cled fibres, and in 2020 laun­c­hed the­ir first 100% recy­cled denim. Using recy­cled fibres will redu­ce the asso­ci­ated water and che­mi­cal use even further! 

Kuyc­hi also sta­tes that they use advan­ced dye­ing tec­h­niqu­es such as pre-redu­ced indi­go and ani­li­ne-free dying to ensu­re cle­aner was­tewa­ter. In 2022, they reac­hed the­ir goal to have all the­ir denim washed with low impact washes! 

CIR­CU­LAR PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

Kuyichi’s pro­duc­ts are not always mono­ma­te­ri­als, so the like­li­ho­od that they can be recy­cled at the end of the­ir lifes­pan is reduced. 

Howe­ver, Kuyic­hi enco­ura­ges con­su­mers to return the­ir used pro­duc­ts when they are no lon­ger needed, in exc­han­ge for a dis­co­unt on the­ir next pur­c­ha­se. Retur­ned items are ide­al­ly repa­ired or refur­bi­shed, and resold in the­ir ​‘Tren­ds are Cir­cu­lar’ onli­ne shop. This hel­ps to pre­vent excess was­te from being gene­ra­ted. Kuyichi’s web­si­te sta­tes that items which are no lon­ger weara­ble are recycled. 

CIR­CU­LAR BUSI­NESS MODELS 

Kuyic­hi offers a repa­ir ser­vi­ce, in exc­han­ge for a dis­co­unt on your next purchase. 

Kuyic­hi has also rele­ased a rewor­ked cap­su­le col­lec­ti­on, cal­led ​‘In Play’, that repur­po­ses for­got­ten pieces into bold, weara­ble denim. Each piece is han­d­craf­ted in the Net­her­lan­ds from recla­imed jeans, giving new life to clot­hes that were once con­si­de­red unu­sa­ble. What’s even bet­ter is that the­se pieces are eit­her made-to-order, or are one-off pieces, so was­te from over­stock is eliminated! 

DIS­TAN­CE & COM­PLEXITY OF THE SUP­PLY CHAIN 

Pro­duc­ti­on locations:

• Tur­key
• Aus­tria
• Pakis­tan
• Moroc­co
• Spa­in
• Italy

Kuyic­hi headqu­ar­ters are loca­ted in the Net­her­lan­ds. The­ir web­si­te sta­tes that some coun­tri­es may be exclu­ded from ship­ping due to high cos­ts, in which case the brand may be contacted. 

TRAN­S­POR­TA­TI­ON 

Kuyic­hi sta­tes that they aim to redu­ce the­ir tran­s­port rela­ted emi­ssi­ons by redu­cing the dis­tan­ce betwe­en sup­pli­ers and local­ly sour­cing fabrics and trims. To tran­s­port the­ir final pro­duc­ts to the­ir ware­ho­use in the Net­her­lan­ds, Kuyic­hi uses land, sea and air tran­s­port. Howe­ver, in 2023, they were able to com­ple­tely eli­mi­na­te air tran­s­port. 

• Vege­ta­ble tan­ned leather
• Wool 

Kuyichi’s web­si­te sta­tes that the­ir leat­her is a by-pro­duct of the meat indus­try, and is from Euro­pe­an cows. Kuyic­hi sta­tes that they stri­ve to only use ani­mal-deri­ved mate­ri­als from ani­mals that are decen­tly treated. 

PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

Kuyic­hi offers men’s and women’s wear, and the majo­rity of the­ir pro­duc­ts are sized XS to XL. The items in the­ir ​‘In Play’ col­lec­ti­on, which are rewor­ked from recla­imed jeans, are one size. 

SLOW FASHI­ON PROCESSES 

Kuyic­hi is on a missi­on to ​‘unfa­shi­on’ the fashi­on indus­try. They are pro­ud to have a CORE Col­lec­ti­on, con­sis­ting of time­less styles that go beyond seaso­nal tren­ds. Some items in this col­lec­ti­on have been the­re for over 8 years! The­se pieces are also desig­ned to be dura­ble, chal­len­ging the con­cept of fast passing tren­ds and dis­po­sa­ble fashion. 

Kuyic­hi does not par­ti­ci­pa­te in seaso­nal sales. Ins­te­ad, they con­duct sur­veys to find out what con­su­mers actu­al­ly want, and reple­nish based on demand. This allows them to focus on pro­duc­ts that are real­ly needed, and pre­vent over­pro­duc­ti­on. 

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PRODUCT 

Kuyic­hi aims to pro­vi­de full pro­duct tran­s­pa­ren­cy. On each pro­duct page, they sta­te the mate­ri­al com­po­si­ti­on, and what cer­ti­fi­ca­ti­ons apply. Kuyic­hi also pro­vi­des fur­t­her mate­ri­al infor­ma­ti­on elsewhe­re on the­ir website. 

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PROCESSES 

Kuyic­hi publi­shes annu­al reports on the soci­al and envi­ron­men­tal aspec­ts of the­ir brand. The brand has also rele­ased a com­ple­te list of the­ir sup­pli­ers, and is pro­ud to publish the­ir exact pro­duc­ti­on figu­res on the­ir web­si­te. In 2023, they pro­du­ced 89,133 items. 

Each pro­duct page sta­tes whe­re the item was pro­du­ced, inclu­ding whe­re the fabric was sour­ced, and what cer­ti­fi­ca­ti­ons apply.