Images_Digital_Edition_February_2020

IS BRAND PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 44 images FEBRUARY 2020 parents being more conscious of what they put on their babies’ skins, points out Kirsty Macdonald, brand manager at Mantis World, a pioneer in ethical and sustainable clothing. “Our whole baby range is booming. Skin friendliness is very important for baby items.” Certified to GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), Mantis World can guarantee that no potentially toxic chemicals such as pesticides and fertilisers have been used at any point, F or nearly a decade, demand for organic products has seen steady year-on-year growth in the UK, according to the Soil Association’s 2019 Market Report. While this increase was largely driven by food and drink, sales of organic textiles have also soared – up from £11.6million in 2010 to £41.3million in 2018, with clothing for babies and children being one of the biggest categories. This has a lot to do with Images talks to Kirsty Macdonald of sustainability-focused garment brand Mantis World about babywear, e-tail and QR care labels from growing the raw cotton through to the finished garment. And with climate change also high on the public’s agenda, the brand’s commitment to reducing its impact on the environment is resonating with a lot of parents. “Our organic range is especially strong because it is about protecting the planet that their children are growing up in,” Kirsty explains. The GOTS standard also indicates social responsibility – from safe working conditions and living wages to ensuring there has been no child labour used in the manufacture of the Mantis garments. The brand has also achieved the SA8000 standard and Business Social Compliance Initiative certifications, which cover workers’ rights and conditions, and is a member of the Textile Exchange, which promotes sustainability in textiles globally. Mantis World garments also comply with the Oeko-Tex standard, which tests raw materials through to end products for harmful substances. “It’s not just skin-friendliness, but zippers, threads, poppers, everything that’s part of the garment. Babies like to chew on things...” Eco interrogation Mantis World is urging decorators to interrogate ethical claims by suppliers. “There’s such a lot of green-washing out there,” Kirsty points out. “We are trying to be authentic in everything we do. People are asking for proof of claims more and more.” The need for decorators and their suppliers to change has escalated because of pressure from high-street retailers, she adds. “It’s been easy for people to focus on the lowest price they can get and be blinkered on how that product got there. Now the high-street retailers have stringent social responsibility and ethical requirements. Small retailers are much more conscious of the background information of where garments come from, how they were made, their certification, and they are becoming more aware of how they can use that information as a marketing tool. It has become much more of a daily conversation than it used to be.” A leading supplier to decorators, Mantis World was using organic cotton before it became fashionable. Founded by Prama Bhardwaj in 2000 and built on strong ethical principles, the company introduced organic cotton as early as 2005. “Ethical manufacturing has been at the core of everything since Prama started,” says Kirsty, who joined Mantis World 10 years ago. “We have stuck to our principles throughout very rigidly. Over the last year, people have The babywear boom New for 2020, the Babybugz Baby Dips Bodysuit