Founding owner of Yuki Threads Mitch is passionate about reducing our impact on the planet, especially the clothing industry and is always trying new things, pushing boundaries and taking risks to create change. Sitting back and waiting for others to take the lead is not Yuki’s style. Their belief is, if you’re not falling over, you’re not trying hard enough.
As a brand Yuki Threads are continually exploring new innovative ways of mitigating their impact on the planet and it’s people. Already using certified Fairtrade products made from GOTS organic cotton, recycled PET bottles in synthetic fabrics, this year Yuki have launched a new line of recycled fabric GREENLON®recycled, below.
Using traceable recycled nylon, wasted material that would normally end up in landfill, and environmentally optimised factories, GREENLONG®recycled is creating eco-friendly textiles.
Yuki are reducing their impact across the board creating responsible and epic products that not just look good but are good for the environment, all while making a positive impact on the industry, community and inspiring others to create their own positive change. Check out their new range of fleeces, old favourites and evolving hoodies below, and technical gear above.
Below is a recycled story on Yuki Threads that was in Lamont Mag Issue 1, winter 2017 and a link to one of my first blog posts on Yuki Threads from 2014, happy reading…
Yuki Threads, making positive change
When Yuki Threads first started out their vision was ‘create a 100% Australian owned snow apparel company that bridged the gap between the Mountain and the Street whilst genuinely caring about their customers. Yuki Threads isn’t just a brand, it’s about a lifestyle. Shredding with the crew, laughing uncontrollably after an epic line, supporting local communities, having fun and enjoying life’. While this is still at the roots of who they are as a brand Yuki Threads have learnt and grown up a lot.
As the brand and it’s creators evolve, the vision has also evolved and in it’s simplest form is now ‘making positive change’. “I like to try and make things simple and I think it is a good foundation to grow on without pigeon holing ourselves” owner Luke Mitchell tells me.
So what positive changes are Yuki Threads making?
“A few years ago we started thinking about our production. Everything up to the manufacturer was transparent. We knew the supply of our fabric but when we started to ask questions further down the supply chain there was concern. What conditions is the fabric manufactured in? Where do the materials come from? What conditions is it farmed in?”
Knowledge of the supply chain beyond the manufacturer, i.e, dye and print houses and fabric suppliers was minimal at best. While this lack of knowledge is common practice in the industry, it didn’t sit well with Yuki Threads. “Although we may ensure we are using great manufacturers, if we can’t trace our whole production line then we have no idea what is going on further back in our supply chain or the social and environmental damage we may be supporting.”
Doing some research, what Luke found was disturbing. He didn’t know where the cotton was coming from or under what conditions it was being farmed and milled, but he did know that they were using conventional cotton. Making up 99% of the global market, conventional cotton uses genetically modified (GMO) seeds requiring the use of many chemicals. Cotton farming makes up only 2.5% of the worlds farming, but 25% of the worlds herbicides and pesticides are used in cotton farming! These chemicals are toxic and dangerous for the farmers, causing cancer and birth defects among a growing list of other health issues.
Apart from the use of toxic chemicals, GMO seeds cost 60% more than natural seeds. In order for farmers to buy the seeds and chemicals to fertilise their crops, they need to take out loans and do so at inflated interest rates. If crops fail or there is an over supply of cotton, these farmers can’t service their loans. This has lead to a huge number of suicides, 5645 in 2014, 11% of India’s total suicides.
“After learning of this we knew we had to make some changes.” From winter 2017, Yuki Threads are using Fairtrade Organic cotton in all of their apparel produced. This means no GMO seeds and associated chemicals have been used and won’t end up in the local water streams polluting water tables. Best of all, farmers are not driven to commit suicide because they can’t pay back their loans.
What can I do?
Knowledge is power and consumers can use that power to ask more from your favourite brands and companies by requesting transparent supply chains, organic cotton and social and environmental compliant manufacturers.
In buying an item that has come from a Fairtrade supply chain, premium prices are paid to farmers and money is put back into communities, empowering and facilitating it to flourish, rather than buying an item that comes from a supply chain that potentially exploits workers, suppressing some of the poorest people on the planet.
You can make a choice that will dramatically change the lives of hundreds of people in a whole supply chain just buy asking a question, looking for a label and making a choice. A small choice that has a huge outcome for others.
