Sustainability

OUR MISSION

We are constantly improving, educating and working on the brand to make it better. Better for you, better for us, better for the environment, for our factory workers, and better for the world overall.

We believe in 100% transparency with our community. We want you to understand the hard work and effort we have made and feel comfortable opening up a conversation with us and asking questions.

Too often brands just throw pieces out into the world without explaining anything or being honest, and we want to change that mentality.

When you shop, from us or from other brands, always ask questions. Who made this? Where is it from? Are the dyes safe? Is this built to last or is it built to be thrown away after a few wears?

OUR MATERIALS

We are diligently minimizing our impact through small production runs of 100 or less pieces per style. Additionally, we prioritize the use of locally milled and deadstock fabric. Deadstock means that we take rolls of fabric that would have been discarded or excess from other companies' production runs instead of using water, chemicals, and resources to make brand new fabric. Any fabrics that we do not source dead stock are GOTS and OEKO-TEX certified and bought in small quantities.

100% POPLIN COTTON:

100% organic reclaimed poplin cotton fabric is used in our Big City Button Downs.. Cotton is a natural fiber grown and harvested from mother earth. This fiber is easy on the environment because it is converted without the use of crude oil or production of microplastics. 100% cotton is also biodegradable ( see partner supplier statement under silk & cotton blend).

SILK & COTTON BLEND:

Made of 55% cotton and 45% silk, both natural fibers are easy on the environment because they come from mother earth herself. The conversion of these fibers into usable fabrics comes without the production of microplastics. Our silk is sourced and produced ethically from our partner factories (see below).

Statement from our partner supplier: “[RAF’s Partner is]...committed to legal compliance and ethical business practices in all of our operations…All Suppliers will operate in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including those relating to labor, workers health, safety and the environment. Suppliers are required to stay up to date on changes in the laws, rules and regulations…Suppliers must maintain honesty in disclosure to any government entity and auditing service including but not limited to Centrabaltex, IMO, Okeo-Tex, GOTS, OE100 and Department of Homeland Security and Border Protection (US Customs). Suppliers must not use involuntary labor such as bonded labor, forced labor, prison labor or indentured labor.”

FRENCH TERRY COTTON SPANDEX BLEND:

Sourced deadstock (think second hand fabric that other companies over produced and we buy the extra) from an independent supplier in California. We buy rolls of this as they are found in quantities of 40-80 yard increments. The exact blend changes from roll to roll but we have gotten very good at keeping it as consistent as possible. These blends are used for our Megan Skirt, Megan Top, Checkmate Top, and other one-of-one pieces for our Studio Collection. Majority is undyed and untreated, however we have gotten batches that are treated to be white. Pieces made from this have the exact fabric quantity hand dyed with natural or Rit Dye methods. All items constructed from this are one-of-one or made to order. Through the piece dyeing method, we are able to reuse dye and minimize the amount of used water.

DUCK CANVAS:

Our canvas is certified organic cotton. It is used in our On-the-Go bag, Messenger Bag, Year Round Pants, and certain pieces found in the studio collection. It is woven and sourced in the US from a family owned mill in Missouri. All White colorways are undyed and untreated using the least number of processes. All black colorways of our Duck Canvas are dyed at our factory using low impact dyeing methods. All other colorways of our canvas are hand dyed in NYC per piece using minimal water and low amounts of Rit Dyes and natural dyes that we custom mix.

Statement from our partner mill: “[Our] Duck Canvas [is] produced from environmentally friendly materials and fabrication methods using sustainable fibers along with low impact dyeing methods preserving the Earth's precious resources…100% Certified Organic Cotton”

FURTHER TRANSPARENCY:

All fabrics are shipped from their respective locations to their destination (our partner factory in LA or our studio in NYC) using ground transport and with lower carbon footprint methods in mind.

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Sustainability