"Product Provenance" is a term Devon ethical fashion label, Quail By Mail  has coined to illustrate to customers exactly how each of their stylish garments came to be! In the artworld provenance shows the history of a painting via an ownership chain and how events shape and enhance an artworks authenticity. Annoyed by 'Greenwash' and other labels selling vague eco-fashion, Quail's founder, Shauna Chapman, decided to put green consumers on the right track and decided to publish its Product Provenance on their website. "I've created a high quality product and my supply chain deserves to be celebrated for having true ethical and eco provenance".

The Quail label uses cotton in 85% of its clothing line and can trace it back to non-GM seeds being sown in India through the design process and finally how online purchases are packaged and despatched in the most romantic and eco-friendly of packaging.

The cotton Quail has sourced, as explained in the 'Product Provenance' is from India, grown from non-GM seed in the Kutch area of Gujerat in Northern India. It is certified organic by the Dutch inspection body, Skal and the agricultural and harvest practices are certified as Fairtrade. Once harvested and processed the cotton is dyed using non-Azo (non-petro chemical dyes), or left natural!

The cotton is then hand-loomed by a weaving community in KV Kuppam, a rural area of southern India, which again is overseen by the Fairtrade Foundation. The fabric is exported to the UK. Quail believes in British ingenuity and only commissions British fashion graduates. Design elements such as functioning pockets, pleats, generous cuts etc are Quail's speciality. "I aim to add maximum design value to the organic and fairtrade cotton fabric and to create a unique British product not found anywhere else. It's hard work to create clothing designs from scratch so I appreciate it when customers appreciate the design and care taken to create my eco fashion".

Quail also sources sustainable haberdashery such as wood, coconut or shell buttons. Since the ethical fashion label wants to see rural and traditional manufacturing revitalised in England, Quail only utilises small, independent Cut, Make and Trim units in Devon and London. Local models are used to represent the brand and marketing material. Having created such special ethical and eco products, the packaging is also considered. And only reusable, recyclable and biodegradable materials are used: recycled kraft paper tied up in a parcel wrapped in a raffia bow. "Every girl loves a little package tied up with string and I think new, green fashion consumers are starting to think that just because a garment is unique, British, organic, Fairtrade, sustainable and fun - the prices are very, very fair indeed!, says Shauna.

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Dagny said:

Sounds like a company worth supporting. I checked out the Product Provenance and love that they are proud to show the roots of their clothing. I wish other companies would do the same. Dagny www.onnotextiles.com bamboo clothing

September 07, 2008

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