We've made an ethical T-shirt. Well, that's not entirely accurate, we've made five, and we didn't actually weave the garment or sew the seams.
'We' is Cale Tolley, the founder of Copious Apparel and I. We've been good mates for over twenty years and worked on different stuff together over that time, including shoots for Copious.
The idea of Trophy Tees has been knocked around for a couple of years now. There are other Kiwi souvenir T's out there, some really good ones too. But it was an idea that just didn't go away. So we've finally done it.
See what we've done here; Lee Ririnui sporting the Mount Dusk One Tee at the actual spot the image on the Tee was taken
Mount Dusk Two Tee
I dunno if the buyers of Trophy Tees will care if the garments are ethical, but we do. The T shirts are made overseas, but the factory used is audited and has WRAP and Oeko-Tex Certification. Ok, fancy sounding - could mean anything right.
WRAP is the world’s largest independent factory-based social compliance certification programme for the sewn products sector. It's 12 Principles cover: compliance with local laws, prohibition of forced labour, child labour, discrimination, harassment or abuse, compensation and benefits, hours of work, health and safety, freedom of association, environment, customs compliance, security. WRAP provides for at least annual unannounced audits, which include allowance for off-site employee interviews. From this, corrective action plans are put in place as well as follow-up audits to resolve any non-compliance before certification is awarded.
Oeko-Tex, very basically, means the materials used in the garment are non toxic, no dodgey stuff like Azo colourants, formaldehyde, pentachlorophenol, cadmium or nickel are used. Don't have the Oeko-Tex Certification, well, do you really want any of that crap rubbing on you?
Added to these certifications our garment supplier is committed to traceability of the cotton used, which means the cotton ethically farmed.
The Mount Tube One Tee proving to be the most popular one so far
Mount Tube Two Tee the whole picture
Fit and Quality. It's all fine and dandy having your social conscience eased, but the garment has to fit well and last. It could have the best graphic in the world on it, but if it fits weird or wears out fast, well, that's just a waste of everyone's time.
Our Tees are a regular fit, crew neck. It's heavy weight, 200 GSM 100% carded cotton. With neck ribbing [the neck will retain its shape well] side seamed, shoulder to shoulder tape, double needle hems and preshrunk to minimise shrinkage. Both Cale and I know what makes a Tee a favourite is how it feels and fits.
The New Zealand Tee in white
This week Trophy Tees first orders were shipped out to the North Beach Nationwide, Backdoor Mount and Papamoa stores. We timed the launch of the Trophy Tee website and social networks to the deliveries... she's been a few big weeks!
I've got some favours to ask; even if you don't want a Trophy Tee yourself, help us get the name out there. LIKE the Trophy Tee page and [ideally] SHARE it on your own home page or even share it with a couple of friends you think may like the Tees. The Facebook Page is HERE
Please check out the Trophy Tee's website, where of course you can enjoy the convenience of ordering your Tees direct from the very device you're in front of now.
www.trophytees.co.nz
From The Bookstore
It's not just the Tees that are ethically minded. All Photo CPL Books are printed with soy based inks [no toxic petros] The Printers are FSC, ISO 9001 and 14001 environmental certified. And The South Seas Revised Edition most certainly a product of that. Over 80% of the images are changed from the original edition- it really is a different book. Check it out and buy it HERE