Merchant & Mills

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls, foun­ded in the UK in 2010 by Carolyn Den­ham and Rode­rick Field, is a diver­se gro­up of indi­vi­du­als – all with a passi­on for sewing. Carolyn, with her fashi­on design bac­k­gro­und, brin­gs style and prac­ti­ca­lity, whi­le Rode­rick, a well-known pho­to­grap­her, con­tri­bu­tes an artis­tic and visu­al­ly com­pel­ling per­s­pec­ti­ve to the brand.

Accor­ding to infor­ma­ti­on on the­ir web­si­te, Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls cla­ims a com­mit­ment to diver­sity and inclu­si­on, exten­ding beyond the UK to the­ir glo­bal part­ner­ships. They sta­te that the majo­rity of the­ir sup­pli­ers are situ­ated thro­ug­ho­ut Euro­pe. Manu­fac­tu­rers based in Euro­pe must fol­low the strict labo­ur rules and laws of the Euro­pe­an Uni­on. Thus, we can assu­me that pro­duc­ti­on takes pla­ce in ethi­cal soci­al con­di­ti­ons. The web­si­te also men­ti­ons that the­ir team con­duc­ts annu­al visits to the­se sup­pli­ers to uphold the­se standards.

Giving back is key for Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls. They cla­im to sup­port seve­ral cha­ri­ti­es like Doc­tors wit­ho­ut bor­ders, the Step­hen Lawren­ce Foun­da­ti­on, Cri­sis, and the Rain­fo­rest Alli­an­ce, showing the­ir dedi­ca­ti­on to both local and glo­bal welfare.

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls has shif­ted its core fabric col­lec­ti­ons towar­ds more sus­ta­ina­ble opti­ons, dis­con­ti­nu­ing tho­se that did­n’t meet the­ir strin­gent cri­te­ria. The­ir focus is pre­do­mi­nan­tly on natu­ral fibres, with a par­ti­cu­lar emp­ha­sis on linen. They have also expan­ded the­ir offe­rin­gs in Hemp and Ten­cel, fibres known for the­ir high eco-fri­end­li­ness ratin­gs. Whe­ne­ver feasi­ble, they have tran­si­ti­oned the­ir cot­ton ran­ges to orga­nic GOTS cer­ti­fi­ed materials.

Accor­ding to the web­si­te, the­ir linen fabric, for exam­ple, is pro­du­ced in small bat­c­hes in Eas­tern Euro­pe, whe­re the­re is a strong heri­ta­ge of spin­ning and weaving. The mill runs on gre­en ener­gy and is Oeko-Tex cer­ti­fi­ed and a mem­ber of the Euro­pe­an Flax-Linen and Hemp alliance.

Fur­t­her­mo­re, they col­la­bo­ra­te with glo­bal part­ners to cura­te a selec­ti­on of dead­stock fabric. This dead­stock – sur­plus mate­ri­al from fashi­on desig­ners, film sets, and fabric mil­ls – would otherwi­se be des­ti­ned for lan­d­fil­ls. By repur­po­sing the­se fabrics, Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls not only redu­ces was­te but also offers the­ir cus­to­mers unique and envi­ron­men­tal­ly res­pon­si­ble fabric choices.

In the­ir reta­il ope­ra­ti­ons, all orders are dis­pat­c­hed wit­ho­ut plas­tic pac­ka­ging, using eit­her paper mailers or car­d­bo­ard boxes. They make a con­s­ci­ous effort to reuse inco­ming car­d­bo­ard boxes for out­go­ing orders. Addi­ti­onal­ly, they offer a ​‘pac­ka­ging-free’ opti­on, allowing reta­il cus­to­mers to cho­ose to rece­ive items pla­ced direc­tly in a box wit­ho­ut pre-wrapping.

For the­ir who­le­sa­le and ware­ho­using, a sig­ni­fi­cant num­ber of the­ir fabric sup­pli­ers are loca­ted wit­hin Euro­pe, ena­bling fabric tran­s­por­ta­ti­on by road. They have requ­es­ted the­se sup­pli­ers to eli­mi­na­te plas­tic wrap­ping aro­und fabric rol­ls, opting ins­te­ad for paper, which is then recy­cled. Cur­ren­tly, Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls uses a blend of 50% recy­cled and recy­cla­ble plas­tic for this pur­po­se and is open to sha­ring this reso­ur­ce to enco­ura­ge wider use over 100% new plastic. 

All inco­ming plas­tic at the­ir faci­li­ti­es is reused as much as possi­ble, and they enco­ura­ge the­ir cus­to­mers to repur­po­se the plas­tic they rece­ive. The­ir couri­er part­ners, DHL and DPD, ope­ra­te cli­ma­te-neutral deli­ve­ri­es, off­set­ting the­ir car­bon foot­print thro­ugh vari­ous cli­ma­te pro­tec­ti­on projects. 

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls embra­ces the con­cept of cir­cu­la­rity in its ope­ra­ti­ons, par­ti­cu­lar­ly thro­ugh its use of dead­stock fabric. This mate­ri­al, ori­gi­nal­ly excess from fashi­on desig­ners, film sets, and fabric mil­ls, is given a new lease on life ins­te­ad of being discarded. 

Most of the­ir fabrics are mono­ma­te­ri­als, com­po­sed of one type of fibre or yarn, which can be advan­ta­ge­ous for recy­cling and sus­ta­ina­bi­lity. They pro­vi­de spe­ci­fic fabric care ins­truc­ti­ons for each type of fabric, ensu­ring cus­to­mers can main­ta­in the quality and lon­ge­vity of the­ir textiles.

What hap­pens with your cre­ati­ons after you’ve made them is com­ple­tely up to you. To be more cir­cu­lar, it’s good to pass it on to some­one else (depen­ding on the con­di­ti­on it is in) ins­te­ad of dis­car­ding it.
Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls does not offer repa­ir ser­vi­ce, but is always open to dis­cu­ssing your latest sewing projects!

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls does not sha­re infor­ma­ti­on abo­ut the­ir manu­fac­tu­ring loca­ti­ons, the­re­fo­re it is dif­fi­cult to esti­ma­te the len­g­th of this brand’s sup­ply chain. 

They do men­ti­on on the­ir web­si­te that, a sig­ni­fi­cant num­ber of the­ir fabric sup­pli­ers are loca­ted wit­hin Euro­pe, ena­bling fabric tran­s­por­ta­ti­on by road. 

They also offer a ran­ge of Japa­ne­se wool fabrics. Japa­ne­se wool pro­duc­ti­on has a dis­tin­ct heri­ta­ge rooted in a com­mit­ment to quality and craf­t­sman­ship. In regi­ons like Hok­ka­ido, she­ep far­ming and wool pro­duc­ti­on have been prac­ti­sed for gene­ra­ti­ons, with an emp­ha­sis on pro­du­cing wool that is both high-quality and sustainable. 

Japa­ne­se wool is often cha­rac­te­ri­zed by its fine textu­re and durability. 

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls offers wool fabrics. They offer Japa­ne­se wool and repur­po­se dead­stock wool, redu­cing was­te and demand for new production.

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls enco­ura­ges the art of sewing and the idea behind slow fashi­on. They beli­eve in making cho­ices that last. When you sew, you get to pick everyt­hing – the colo­ur, sha­pe, style, and fit. This means you can cre­ate clot­hes that you’ll love and wear not just for a season, but for many years. The­ir appro­ach is all abo­ut rema­king your favo­uri­te styles over and over, making fashi­on sus­ta­ina­ble and personal.

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls fabrics col­lec­ti­on has an exten­si­ve ran­ge of textu­res and pat­ter­ns, offe­ring somet­hing for every one. From ear­t­hy, solid hues to playful pol­ka dots and cla­ssic chec­ks, each fabric pro­mi­ses to add a touch of sop­his­ti­ca­ti­on and style to any creation.

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls to be as inclu­si­ve as possi­ble. They offer a wide size ran­ge for all the­ir pat­ter­ns. They cho­ose ​‘real models’ to showca­se the­ir designs.

Mer­c­hant & Mil­ls pro­jec­ts an ima­ge of sus­ta­ina­bi­lity and ethi­cal prac­ti­ces, yet the­ir level of tran­s­pa­ren­cy leaves room for scru­tiny. The brand fal­ls short in pro­vi­ding deta­iled infor­ma­ti­on abo­ut the­ir manu­fac­tu­ring loca­ti­ons and the spe­ci­fics of the­ir mate­ri­al sour­cing. This lack of deta­iled dis­clo­su­re makes it chal­len­ging for con­su­mers to ful­ly under­stand the extent of the­ir com­mit­ment to sus­ta­ina­ble prac­ti­ces. Addi­ti­onal­ly, wit­ho­ut com­pre­hen­si­ve insig­ht into the­ir sup­ply cha­in and pro­duc­ti­on pro­ce­sses, it is dif­fi­cult to verify the­ir claims.