OUR MISSION
Sustainability
Sustainability is important to Only the Blind and we're on a constant mission to become a more sustainable brand by addressing various parts of the business to meet our sustainability goal. Below are some of our notable changes we are making to reach this goal.
Organic Cottons & Natural Materials
As a responsible company, we strive to limit our impact on the world while respecting nature, the source of the majority of our exceptional materials. We try to ensure that our collections consist of mainly natural fibres and materials where possible. Our latest collections feature jersey fabrics for Hoodies, T-Shirts, Shorts and Sweatpants from 100% Organic GOTS Certified Cottons meaning the pieces our customers receive are in the purest and highest quality of cotton. We are transitioning towards growing our range of Organic Cotton products and OEKO-TEX® Cottons which are tested and confirmed to not have any harmful substances in them. This is not a cheap or easy route to take and results in a longer process in developing products as we can only use certain fabrics and factories, narrowing our manufacturing options with sustainability in mind, but something that we're constantly focusing on finding and developing new fabrics and looking for new manufacturers to work with.
The Undyed Collection
We strive to control our water and energy consumption as well as carbon footprint throughout production. We typically launch multiple undyed cotton pieces as part of each collection and have now launched a section on the website for these called The Unyed Collection. These pieces are made from cotton in its natural colour and fibres, saving on the dyeing process and making the pieces a lot more ecological. This also makes each piece have a unique look to them due to being able to see small specks in the fabric, which is the fabrics natural cotton seeds.
Embroideries
Only the Blind specialises in its embroideries and it is a signature feature of our iconic pieces. We have developed an expertise in creating striking embroidery artworks and have conducted years of research into developing our skillset in this. The embroidery threads we use on our iconic pieces are sourced from one of the most reputable high-end thread suppliers in the world, Made in Germany and carry OEKO-TEX® testing for the lack of any harmful substances in the materials.
Limited Quantities
All pieces are produced in limited quantities, meaning that the pieces you get are exclusive pieces worth investing in and something to be treasured. With two main seasons per year, we are a slow-fashion brand, reducing waste of excess production. We make a stand against fast fashion which is promoting over-consumption with cheaply produced garments that are made to barely last a handful of wears, in reality with over half being thrown out after a year and being worn only once or twice, resulting in a very negative environmental impact.
Luxurious Quality
The quality of the materials, combined with the level of craftsmanship, allows us to create products that can be worn for many years over, making them timeless by both design and quality. This reduces waste of products being discarded due to them quickly developing faults.
Carbon-Neutral Shipments
All our shipments of orders are carbon neutral as we pay to offset the carbon of shipments on every order. We work with Shopify and a various partners to reduce our carbon footprint including Running Tide, Climeworks, Noya, Remora and many more that you can find our more about the exciting projects here. We pay for the storage of carbon for a minimum of 1,000+ years, the longest duration currently available to us.
Packaging
We have transitioned from using single-use plastic packaging in our shipments by shipping all products in either cardboard boxes or paper envelopes. Purchases are beautifully delivered wrapped in tissue paper and in a reusable faux suede bag, not only making a great experience receiving your product, but also removing plastic waste by not using plastic garment bags. This is something we have introduced in the last couple of years, so for any new season items this is how you will receive your order. This is not applicable to older items on sale as we phase these styles out. Our boxes are all made from recycled cardboard and fully biodegradable.
Digital Design
We design all our pieces digitally and make sure designs are perfected before they are produced, thereby minimising the amount of samples that need to be made . We are investing into advancing this part of the business and hope in the future to be able to sample products digitally via 3D Design sampling software.
Reduced Returns
Shipping products contributes to a large amount of CO2 emissions, therefore we try to minimise the amount of returns to us if they can be avoided. We do this through multiple methods including providing size charts on the website so customers know what size would suit them best, providing items of a high quality that customers won't be disappointed in and by not providing free returns which typically encourage over-ordering by customers for items they pre-empt to return meaning a reduction in unnecessary CO2 emissions of shipping products back to us and energy usage re-processing items when we receive them back.
Organic Cottons & Natural Materials
As a responsible company, we strive to limit our impact on the world while respecting nature, the source of the majority of our exceptional materials. We try to ensure that our collections consist of mainly natural fibres and materials where possible. Our latest collections feature jersey fabrics for Hoodies, T-Shirts, Shorts and Sweatpants from 100% Organic GOTS Certified Cottons meaning the pieces our customers receive are in the purest and highest quality of cotton.
We are transitioning towards growing our range of Organic Cotton products and OEKO-TEX® Cottons which are tested and confirmed to not have any harmful substances in them. This is not a cheap or easy route to take and results in a longer process in developing products as we can only use certain fabrics and factories, narrowing our manufacturing options with sustainability in mind, but something that we're constantly focusing on finding and developing new fabrics and looking for new manufacturers to work with.
The Undyed Collection
We strives to control our water and energy consumption as well as carbon footprint throughout production. We typically launch multiple undyed cotton pieces as part of each collection and have now launched a section on the website for these called The Unyed Collection. These pieces are made from cotton in its natural colour and fibres, saving on the dyeing process and making the pieces a lot more ecological. This also makes each piece have a unique look to them due to being able to see small specks in the fabric, which is the fabrics natural cotton seeds.
Packaging
We have transitioned from using single-use plastic packaging in our shipments by shipping all products in either cardboard boxes or paper envelopes. Purchases are beautifully delivered wrapped in tissue paper and in a reusable faux suede bag, not only making a great experience receiving your product, but also removing plastic waste by not using plastic garment bags. This is something we have introduced in the last couple of years, so for any new season items this is how you will receive your order. This is not applicable to older items on sale as we phase these styles out. Our boxes are all made from recycled cardboard and fully biodegradable.
Carbon-Neutral Shipments
All our shipments of orders are carbon neutral as we pay to offset the carbon of shipments on every order. We work with Shopify and a various partners to reduce our carbon footprint including Running Tide, Climeworks, Noya, Remora and many more that you can find our more about the exciting projects here. We pay for the storage of carbon for a minimum of 1,000+ years, the longest duration currently available to us.
Luxurious Quality
The quality of the materials, combined with the level of craftsmanship, allows us to create products that can be worn for many years over, making them timeless by both design and quality. This reduces waste of products being discarded due to them quickly developing faults.
Limited Quantities
All pieces are produced in limited quantities, meaning that the pieces you get are exclusive pieces worth investing in and something to be treasured. With two main seasons per year, we are a slow-fashion brand, reducing waste of excess production.
Reduced Returns
Shipping products contributes to a large amount of CO2 emissions, therefore we try to minimise the amount of returns to us if they can be avoided. We do this through multiple methods including providing size charts on the website so customers know what size would suit them best, providing items of a high quality that customers won't be disappointed in and by not providing free returns which typically encourage over-ordering by customers for items they pre-empt to return meaning a reduction in unnecessary CO2 emissions of shipping products back to us and energy usage re-processing items when we receive them back.
Digital Design
We design all our pieces digitally and make sure designs are perfected before they are produced, thereby minimising the amount of samples that need to be made . We are investing into advancing this part of the business and hope in the future to be able to sample products digitally via 3D Design sampling software.
