Fayettechill is naturally inspired. When creating our next piece of apparel or producing our next roll of media, we look to the natural environments we call home first and foremost. Nature creates our standards. What aids, protects, or celebrates nature is to be followed. What hurt, destroys, or forgets nature is to be avoided. Ultimately, it is our hope that our efforts as a clothing company leave the world in more healthy state of being - both in the planet’s physical condition and in how modern culture values the outdoors.

But we can’t do this alone and we can’t do it without continual effort. With respect to this, last week we launched our Mindful Manufacturing campaign. It’s our canvas for a consistent conversation on how our products are made and where we are seeking to improve. We are looking to have this conversation with you - the customer - in as open a form as possible. The real power in any strategy motivated by mindful manufacturing comes from the purchasing power of you! Speak to us through your words via email or social media. Speak to us through your actions via the products you purchase and the events you attend. We promise that we are listening.

And on the other side of the conversation, we're proud to share with you the positive efforts we've made so far:

ORGANIC AND MADE IN AMERICA

Utilizing the highest quality materials and least amount of resources, we use a blend of materials in our trademark tees. Our tees are crafted from 50% organic long staple (i.e. really good and more sustainable) cotton and 50% recycled polyester. The cotton we use was grown without chemicals that can destroy ecosystems and be harmful to living creatures.

And the recycled polyester? It comes from recycled plastic bottles. This reduces the waste in landfills, conserves water and electricity, and creates a product that will live much longer than a soda bottle. From there we gather the cotton and recycled polyester and send it to a Bluesign certified (read more about this here) facility in California, where it is woven into fabric, dyed beautiful colors, and sewn into the shirts you know and love--right here in the US. By making our shirts stateside, we save enormous amounts of diesel required to transport product by sea or air.

RECYCLED POLYESTER

Our tees aren't the only Fayettechill pieces made with recycled materials. This season's McCloud & Womble also use recycled poly.

For the McCloud (above), we chose Polartec Thermal Pro fleece, which is 100% recycled polyester. This incredibly versatile shirt jacket (aka “the shacket”) is designed to take you from meetings to the mountainside. The recycled, synthetic material insulates twice as well as the same weight of merino wool and three times better than cotton. This fabric breathes, wicks sweat, dries fast, and doesn’t require special care in cleaning (because who wants to stop adventuring to pick up dry cleaning?), plus is super soft against your skin. Utilizing 100% recycled fabric we hoped to take an incredibly designed shirt to a new level of functional fashion.

We made the Womble (above) from 65% recycled polyester and 35% merino wool, which means it’s good for any activity, all day, every day. The merino keeps you warm, kills odors, and gives this piece nice stretch. The recycled polyester makes this shirt light and smooth against your skin. Both materials work together to give this shirt amazing sweat-wicking powers. We could have made this piece from 100% merino wool, but by blending the wool with recycled polyester, we not only crafted a unique, comfortable shirt, but saved resources and water in the process.

SLASHING WASTE

The textile industry often produces excess quantities of clothes that end up sitting unbought in boxes and eventually in landfills. To prevent this kind of waste and to help preserve water, materials, and electricity, this year we’ve launched our Limited Edition tees.

Here’s how it works: we collaborate with incredible artists in our community to create a one-of-a-kind design with extra love, then we offer it to the public-- but we don’t actually print any shirts until all the orders are in. This way, we know exactly how many tees our customers need and the sizes needed. Every Limited Edition shirt we print already has a home-- zero waste.

 ✩ 

Here at Fayettechill, we are enchanted by the earth around us. We find magic in every step of a trail. We see the power in a rainstorm, the wisdom of ecosystems, the beauty in changing seasons. Because we hold such a deep value for this home of ours, we feel an equally deep sense of responsibility to it. We owe the earth for all it gives and teaches us. So as we produce clothes that help us explore, adventure, and relax in nature, we want to do so with the earth in mind. For that, we’ve taken these extra steps to manufacture mindfully.

If you'd like to learn more about Fayettechill's sustainable vision, be sure to check out our latest brand film, "Mindful Manufacturing" and read our article "Kin to Conscious Capitalism."