Fresh and Clean Apparel

How sustainable is Fresh and Clean Apparel?

Cir­cu­lar fas­hi­on
It’s claim to cir­cu­la­ri­ty main­ly deri­ves from three ele­ments it nails. First that means going was­te-free. Eve­ry­thing that the brand pro­du­ces can be send back to them, which they can then re-use to make new clo­t­hes. The gar­ments come with QR-codes with return labels which allows you to easi­ly send back the gar­ment to Fresh & Clean whe­ne­ver you want. When you do, they offer a £5 cou­pon on your next pur­cha­se. Was­te is desig­ned out, mate­ri­als flow back into the loop and you even get rewar­ded. Eve­ry­bo­dy wins!

Natu­ral sys­tems
The second ele­ment of cir­cu­la­ri­ty is using natu­ral sys­tems. Becau­se the brand is rather
new it must rely on main­ly vir­gin mate­ri­als for the time being. The mate­ri­al of choi­ce is 100% orga­nic cot­ton from the North of India. This is also whe­re its sup­ply chain is loca­ted and the cot­ton is trans­for­med into clothing. Its faci­li­ties in India are cer­ti­fied by SA8000 and GOTS, which gua­ran­tee soci­al standards, and envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly, orga­nic pro­ces­sing.

Rene­wa­ble ener­gy
The third and final sub­ject of Fresh and Clean Appa­rel’s cir­cu­la­ri­ty fra­me­work is the use
of cir­cu­lar ener­gy. Back in the Uni­ted King­dom the grap­hics are prin­ted in a the Teem­ill faci­li­ty that runs 100% on rene­wa­ble ener­gy. In India the assem­bly fac­to­ry the brand works with uti­li­zes rene­wa­bles as well.

Is it for you?
Whi­le Fresh and Clean Appa­rel is doing gre­at on cir­cu­la­ri­ty, this does not mean that the­re
is no room for impro­ve­ment. The brand does not spe­ci­fy the names of its sup­pliers which makes it very hard to veri­fy their true soci­al and envi­ron­men­tal per­for­man­ce . Proof of pay­ment of a living wage is also not pro­vi­ded which is espe­ci­al­ly in India a goal that a lot of brands strug­gle to achie­ve. Howe­ver, Fresh and Clean Appa­rel checks a lot of boxes. The brand has cir­cu­la­ri­ty in its heart, uses orga­nic cot­ton and is safe for vegans. All in all this is a gre­at brand that is imple­men­ting cir­cu­la­ri­ty prac­ti­ces within an indu­stry that is very far from adop­ting this at a lar­ger sca­le. If you’re on the fen­ce for a swea­ter or t‑shirt and you’re con­si­de­ring Fresh & Clean Appa­rel, we won’t stop you!