At ONE Essentials its a revolution every week, and everyday you're wearing your ONE Essentials purchases you're a part of it.

At the start of Fashion Revolution 2022, we want to highlight the importance of this movement and why what we do matters. The mainstream fashion industry is built on exploitation of natural resources, labour and you the consumer. Most major fast fashion brands are producing too much, too fast, fuelling the cycle of over consumption and waste. 

Now is the time to rise up together for a radical, regenerative and revolutionary new industry, One that’s accountable, transparent and works to lower the impact on our planet and prevent the exploitation of those making our clothes. 

 

Why Materials Matter

The materials we use are crucial to our view on how fabrics should be made. We pick every fibre to have a minimal environmental impact. Let’s break it down. 

• Recycling to reduce our reliance on virgin cotton - 50% of the cotton we use in our underwear and t-shirts is recycled from the factory floor and pre- consumer waste. Saving valuable land, water and energy. 

• Organic only - The remaining 50% of the cotton fibre blend is organic cotton. Using organically farmed cotton is crucial to maintaining soil health, preventing soil erosion and reduces water consumption.

• Biodegradable stretch only!  - As cotton naturally biodegrades into the soil, we don’t want anything left behind so we’ve replaced conventional elastane with biodegradable elastane that will biodegrade in soil after 6 months. 

• No Toxins in our dyes - All of our fabric is dyed with blue-sign or oeko tex accredited dyestuffs ensuring no toxins in the pigments used and no toxins next to your skin either.

We think that’s a pretty powerful combination, carefully chosen to make the softest fabrics for the most comfortable choice you can make. For your body all day everyday and for the future of our planet.

 

Transparency And Traceability Are Crucial.

With many of us being increasingly detached from the human process, time and skills needed to create the clothes we wear everyday, it’s important to highlight those involved and the value of that craftsmanship.  We need to re-equate value to the time taken to make our clothing and that can only happen by being honest and transparent about the people and places from where they came. 

We couldn't exist without a global network of innovative suppliers all of whome are embracing innovation and known for making quality materials and products. 

The team at Tintex Textiles embraced our request to work with Asai Korp's cradle to cradle gold certified biodegradable elastane. Working with Circular Systems they created a fabric that is not only biodegradable, but also made from premium recycled fibres. Reducing our impact on the planet by reducing our need for virgin cotton from the start.  

The skilled team at Ribiero Campos make our garments in Barcelos, Portugal, only 80 km from where the fabric is made. The superior workmanship from their team supports our goals of ensuring premium quality products that last.

On every product page you’ll see a world map showing where each of our components come from right down to raw the material of our fabrics. We’re transparent with you, but we also want to be honest with you about what we don’t know and what we’re working towards.  You'll find that there too, and anything you want to know just ask us.

 

Who Pays the Price?

We have been asked why is our underwear more expensive? Well to this we ask why shouldn't it be?

We've already talked about our materials and the reasons why those choices were important, but those choices come with a price, the price paid for embracing materials that other are not. Theres a reason why the big brands at low prices are not using the same materials as us.. cost. But we believe the cost to our planet is more important and we need to break this barrier and use them even if is they are not the most affordable option.

Our garments and fabric are made in factories paying a living rage in Portugal and it takes time to make a fiddly small pair of ladies briefs, despite them looking simple. Our boxers have the same amount of seams as a t-shirt and more components, they're anything but simple.

If something is cheap and a low cost someone somewhere is paying the price. Besides you wear your underwear every single day. Why shouldn't you invest un quality underwear that has been made well and will last, knowing you've invested in an item made with the planet and the people making it in mind.

For more information on Fashion Revolution and their work and how you can get involved head over to their website.