Ethical Manufacturing - ask the hard questions.

There is a great deal more awareness by consumers about where their garments are made. However, getting the real answer is sometimes not as easy as it should be. This is because there can be so many layers within the garment manufacturing process, all adding a margin, and all pushing the responsibility to the layer before them.

A possible pyramid can look like this- on top is the Retailer, then - Wholesaler- Distributor- Importer- Trading House - Manufacturers agent - Appointed manufacturer - subcontracted maker - outsourced maker. It is when we get to the bottom of the pyramid that things can become very murky.

The disaster of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh exposed how corrupted the system had become. Famous international brands were found to have been giving work to black listed companies operating in Rana Plaza, and yet these big brands claimed that they were totally unaware their garments were being manufactured there because they were using trading houses to do the garment production.

So the burning question does become 'where were your garments really made?'

At Elegant all our garments are produced with our closed supply chain. There are no outworkers, there are no subcontractors, there are no middle men, so there is nothing to hide, because ethical manufacturing is not just some hollow catch phrase, it is in our DNA.

There is no other way to manufacture our garments, we are culturally hard wired never to disrespect an employee or act in a way that lessens another's dignity. This is why we are still in business after 60 years.

Therefore we often tell our customers to ask the hard questions about where their garments are being made, if a supplier cannot explain quickly and simply, then most likely the real answer may not be pleasing.

So feel free to ask us where your garment is made, we can most likely even tell you the name of the employee who sewed your garment. I dont think many other companies can say the same thing.