Our Values.
Designing from values is a challenging and exciting prospect. These values become a list of rules, of ‘do’ and ‘don't’ principals that we consult each time a new piece is imagined.As fashion garments are often complex and have different distinct stages we have categorised these as Make, Materials, Use & End of Life/Recycling.
The CMT (sewing) of all Sanct garments currently takes place on Wurundjeri Country in the Sanct studio by my own two hands. As we grow I will source ECA accredited suppliers in Australia to help me make.
Our pattern making is handled by local talents RB Patternmaking who are experts with way too much experience and are also ECA accredited. Our ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ of manufacturing;
Do:
- Use ECA accredited factories to manufacture clothes.
- Manufacture in our own studio.
Don’t:
- Manufacture offshore.
The materials (fabrics, sewing threads, elastic, buttons etc) category is basically just a big ‘do’ and ‘don’t’ use list.
These are our materials principals:
We Love:
- GOTS organic cotton/linen
- Linen manufactured with certifications that protect workers rights.
- Tencel (lyocell & modal) or Ecovero fabric and threads.
- Natural tree rubber elastic.
- Deadstock natural fibres like cotton, linen and silk.
We Won't Use:
- Synthetics (polyester, acrylic, polyamide etc).
- Convention viscose.
- Conventional cotton.
- Elastane.
- Bamboo.
- The following animal products: Conventional wool, leather (or any animal skins), angora, down/feathers, fur or exotic animal hair.
The below is a list of materials, trims and packaging currently in our collection and the suppliers for each:
Fabrics
Current fabrics in our collection include:
100% GOTS Organic Cotton.
Supplier: SASPAC
Origin: Shino Shouten Japan
100% GOTS Organic Cotton.
Supplier: MTK
Dyed: Richmond Laundry PTY
Origin: Melbourne, Australia.
100% Deadstock Cotton
Supplier: Wall Fabrics
Origin: Australia
100% Deadstock Linen
Supplier: Wall Fabrics
Origin: Australia
100% Deadstock Linen
Supplier: Bought from another Australian supplier. with leftover surplus.
Origin: Australia
100% Deadstock Wool
Supplier: Bought from a closing down boutique.
Origin: Australia.
Trims
Current trims in our collection include:
Elastic: Natural Tree Rubber Elastic woven with GOTS Organic Cotton
Supplier: Premium Haberdashery
Origin: Germany
Threads:
100% Tencel thread, certified cradle-to-cradle gold.
Supplier: Johann Muller AG
Origin: Made in Switzerland
100% GOTS Organic Cotton thread.
Supplier: Sew For Good (Australia)
Origin: Spun in the Netherlands
Care Label: 100% Cotton
Supplier: Eason Biz
Origin: Made in China
Main Label: 100% cotton
Supplier: Avery Dennison
Origin: Made in China
Tags: 100% FSC mix certified card, 100% cotton (natural, un-dyed) cord.
Supplier: Avery Dennison
Origin: Made in China.
Packaging
Packaging we currently use:
Post Box: 100% Kraft brown cardboard. Fully recyclable or compostable.
Supplier: Pack Queen
Origin: Australia
Tissue Paper: No Issue FSC certified paper, acid free and printed with soy inks.
Supplier: No Issue Co.
Origin: Australia
Packaging Tape: 100% Water activated paper tape
Supplier: Woodruff & Co.
Origin: Australia
Care Card: 100% Recycled paper, printed with soy inks.
Supplier: Sustainable Printing Co.
Origin: Australia.
Waste
We love using quality deadstock fabrics because it allows us to take responsibility for some of the textile waste produced by the garment industry.
We work with a textile agent called Wall Fabrics who source deadstock fabrics previously used by high end, world renowned fashion brands.
Sanct produces super small runs of everything (usually a max of 3-4 pieces per size) and produce more as demand arises.
This allows us to avoid overproducing.
Cutting and making in house also allows us to control the cutting efficiency. Our off-cuts and scraps are all kept and not thrown away. We will produce smaller items with our off cuts and are looking into using textile recycling companies like TerraCycle or Textile Recyclers Australia to regenerate our smaller scraps into new fibres.
In our packaging I use a strip of scrap pattern making paper, secured with a sticker to hold the tissue around your parcel, this means the sticker won’t rip the tissue when opening your parcel and you can reuse our beautiful custom print tissue again and again!
This is your part, and I’ll try and give you as much information as possible to best care for your Sanct garment for a lovely long life.
The three main pillars of the use cycle are wear, wash and repair:
Wear
Avoid spraying perfumes/deodorants directly onto your clothes as they often contain chemicals and oils that can cause discolouration or a stain that can be tricky to get out.
Check the ingredients list on your perfumes/deodorants, if they have a high alcohol content or contain aluminium this can cause cause yellow discolouration and white, chalky stains.
Washing
First, assess if you can spot clean your clothes or air them out instead of giving them a full wash.
This will save water and energy but also mean your clothes are less frequently ‘agitated’ by the washing machine.
Use a cold wash and line dry instead of tumble drying.
This will reduce the heat the garment experiences which will help to avoid shrinking. It's also much better for the environment!
Say nay to harsh chemicals. If you have a particularly nasty stain you are reckoning with, try taking the piece to an eco dry cleaner.
We don’t use synthetics in our ranges but a hot tip if you do have some polyester/acrylic blended pieces is to wash them in a guppy bag. This bag will catch the micro plastics shed from these fibres, saving them from being flushed into waterways.
Sanct clothing is created to last. We take great care in selecting durable finishes that are also beautiful.
We also offer lifetime repairs within Australia.
A Sanct piece is intended to outlive us all, circulating on bodies before being recycled into new fibres.
We are researching the best way to offer a take back program for garment recycling. We are looking into different textile recyclers we could partner with so watch this space!
