SUITSHERWELL

PRO­DUC­TI­ON LOCATIONS 

• Por­tu­gal 

WOR­KING CON­DI­TI­ONS & LIVING WAGES 

SUIT­SHERWELL valu­es more ethi­cal pro­duc­ti­on and the­re­fo­re wor­ks with Euro­pe­an part­ners. The first col­lec­ti­on con­sis­ts of resi­du­al fabrics from Anfi­be, a Bel­gi­an texti­le pro­du­cer in Ron­se. The­se fabrics are then assem­bled into jac­kets and tro­users in Por­tu­gal. This Por­tu­gu­ese manu­fac­tu­rer was cho­sen and visi­ted by the foun­ders them­sel­ves and also has seve­ral cer­ti­fi­ca­tes such as GOTS (Glo­bal Orga­nic Texti­le Stan­dard) and SME­TA which also check wor­king con­di­ti­ons in the­ir audits.

For the­ir second col­lec­ti­on, SUIT­SHERWELL also col­la­bo­ra­ted with this Por­tu­gu­ese manu­fac­tu­rer to sour­ce the fabrics.

The reto­uc­hing bud­get you rece­ive with your pur­c­ha­se can be spent at De Gouden Dra­ad in Hasselt. Thro­ugh the Euro­pe­an AZO pro­ject, recog­ni­sed refu­ge­es are sup­por­ted to work in this workshop. 

MATE­RI­ALS 

• Polyes­ter
• Wool 
• Lycra
• Vis­co­se 
   

The fabrics of the suits con­sist of a mix of polyes­ter, wool and lycra. The lining is made of vis­co­se. In this, the brand could have made more sus­ta­ina­ble cho­ices in favo­ur of recy­cla­bi­lity and biode­gra­da­bi­lity. They could also have used a more sus­ta­ina­ble alter­na­ti­ve to the conven­ti­onal mate­ri­als, such as recy­cled polyes­ter or Eco­ve­ro vis­co­se. 

Howe­ver, the advan­ta­ge of SUIT­SHERWEL­L’s com­po­si­ti­on is that the mix of dif­fe­rent mate­ri­als allows them to achi­eve a stur­dy quality that allows the suits to last a long time and the addi­ti­on of lycra ensu­res impro­ved comfort. 

PAC­KA­GING 

SUIT­SHERWELL sta­tes that they sour­ce the­ir recy­cled car­d­bo­ard pac­ka­ging from a local part­ner, Ropak. 

WATER USA­GE & CHEMICALS 

SUIT­SHERWELL has not dis­clo­sed any measu­res to redu­ce water or che­mi­cal usa­ge in the­ir sup­ply cha­in. Alt­ho­ugh the­ir pro­duc­ts con­ta­in syn­t­he­tic mate­ri­als which will rele­ase micro­plas­tics when washed, they are dry-cle­an only, which redu­ces the like­li­ho­od of water pollution. 

CIR­CU­LAR PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

In ter­ms of cir­cu­la­rity, SUIT­SHERWELL can defi­ni­tely impro­ve. For ins­tan­ce, by using upcy­cled mate­ri­als in the fabrics, or by cho­osing 100% mono-mate­ri­als so that the clot­hes can be easily recy­cled afterwar­ds. In fact, the­se suits are not yet easily recy­cla­ble due to the com­bi­na­ti­on of dif­fe­rent texti­le fibres, nor biode­gra­da­ble due to the addi­ti­on of polyes­ter and lycra.

CIR­CU­LAR BUSI­NESS MODELS 

SUIT­SHERWELL does not yet sha­re any cir­cu­lar busi­ness models on the­ir web­si­te, such as a return or repa­ir sche­me. This would help to ensu­re that the­ir pro­duc­ts are kept in use for as long as possible. 

DIS­TAN­CE & COM­PLEXITY OF THE SUP­PLY CHAIN 

Pro­duc­ti­on locations: 

• Por­tu­gal

SUIT­SHERWELL has a rela­ti­vely short sup­ply cha­in, as the­ir fabrics are sour­ced from Bel­gi­um and Por­tu­gal, and manu­fac­tu­red into bes­po­ke suits in Por­tu­gal. The­ir headqu­ar­ters are loca­ted in Hasselt, Belgium. 

Howe­ver, the ove­rall len­g­th and com­plexity of the sup­ply cha­in can­not be accu­ra­tely deter­mi­ned as SUIT­SHERWELL does not dis­clo­se whe­re the­ir raw mate­ri­als are sour­ced from. 

TRAN­S­POR­TA­TI­ON 

SUIT­SHERWELL does not dis­clo­se what tran­s­por­ta­ti­on met­hods are used in the­ir sup­ply cha­in or for e‑commerce. 

• Wool 

SUIT­SHERWELL does not dis­clo­se whe­re the­ir wool is sour­ced from, so we can­not deter­mi­ne the ani­mal-wel­fa­re aspec­ts of the brand. 

PRO­DUCT DESIGN 

SUITSHERWELL’s time­less and tailo­red suits are desig­ned to be kept for long peri­ods of time, sup­por­ting slow fashi­on principles. 

The suits are offe­red in one model (bla­zer and tro­users) and in four muted colo­urs to mat­ch any war­dro­be. With the mat­c­hing waist belt, you can style the bla­zer in dif­fe­rent ways. The suits cur­ren­tly in stock on the­ir web­si­te are ava­ila­ble in a small ran­ge of sizes S‑L. They do howe­ver pro­mo­te impro­ved inclu­si­vity thro­ugh the­ir cus­to­mi­sa­ti­on ser­vi­ce. This allows you to cho­ose the fabrics and style that suit you best, and have your per­fect suit cus­tom-made to fit your exact silhouette. 

Quality is a core value and this is reflec­ted in the suits. To achi­eve an even bet­ter fit, a €35 reto­uc­hing bud­get is inclu­ded with every suit. This way, the suit fits you per­fec­tly, ensu­ring that you can wear it as often as possi­ble. If you buy the suit in the physi­cal shop, the desi­red reto­uc­hes will be car­ri­ed out by De Gouden Dra­ad. If you don’t live in Hasselt, you can spend the bud­get at a tailor of your choice.

When your suit is due for a refresh, it’s best to take it to the dry cle­aners. In betwe­en, you can air and ste­am it at home.

SLOW FASHI­ON PROCESSES 

SUIT­SHERWELL pro­du­ces in small quan­ti­ti­es, and avo­ids sales, to help pre­vent was­te from over­pro­duc­ti­on and consumption. 

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PRODUCT 

The pro­duct pages sta­te that the­ir suits are made from a sus­ta­ina­ble wool blend of 53% polyes­ter, 45% wool, and 2% lycra. Whilst we appre­ci­ate the tran­s­pa­ren­cy in dis­clo­sing the­ir mate­ri­als, the term ​‘sus­ta­ina­ble’ may cause some con­fu­si­on for con­su­mers as polyes­ter and lycra are syn­t­he­tic mate­ri­als. Addi­ti­onal­ly, the brand does not dis­clo­se whe­re they sour­ce the­se raw mate­ri­als from, so it is dif­fi­cult to deter­mi­ne the­ir true sus­ta­ina­bi­lity. 

TRAN­S­PA­REN­CY ON PROCESSES

Whi­le a fair amo­unt of infor­ma­ti­on abo­ut pro­duc­ti­on and sus­ta­ina­bi­lity efforts can be found on the web­si­te, the­re are points whe­re SUIT­SHERWELL can still grow in ter­ms of tran­s­pa­ren­cy. COSH! knows the names of the­ir Bel­gi­an fabric sup­pli­er and the Por­tu­gu­ese final manu­fac­tu­rer, but whe­re exac­tly the mate­ri­als come from has not been disclosed. 

The dif­fe­rent steps in the sup­ply cha­in could also be hig­hlig­h­ted more cle­ar­ly to con­su­mers. SUIT­SHERWELL indi­ca­ted in a conver­sa­ti­on with COSH! that they have plans to take steps towar­ds more tran­s­pa­ren­cy in the futu­re, and we look forward to that!