SUSTAINABILITY

We generally make sure to use materials sparingly and avoid plastic whenever possible. We store and package our clothes without using plastic. So you’ll receive your matttma product wrapped in tissue paper :) We use packing tape with the Tesa Eco logo. Our packaging is made of cardboard.

The companies from which we source our clothing are all members of the Fair Wear Foundation and are therefore committed to meeting ethical standards in their production conditions: no forced or child labor, fair wages and working hours, the right to form unions, safe and healthy working conditions, legally binding employment contracts, etc. You can find more details on the FWF website: https://www.fairwear.org/about-us/labour-standards Stanley Stella, from whom we source nearly all of our blank garments (all except for one T-shirt from Earth Positive), is one of the highest-rated companies in the FWF and regularly uploads its Performance Check (i.e., how it’s currently performing). You can find it here: https://stanleystella.com/de-de/sustainability/certifications

Since we don’t yet have the textiles manufactured ourselves, we rely on producers in the organic clothing market whose styles and colors suit our taste. Most of the clothes we source are from Stanley Stella and Earth Positive, which manufacture in India or Bangladesh. Stanley Stella provides information on its website about local production: https://stanleystella.com/de-de/about-stanley-stella/made-in-bangladesh In addition, under the “FAIR TRADE” section, you can read about what’s being done locally to make a difference in the textile industry. The garments are then further finished (printed and embroidered) by printing companies in Germany (Promoyard) or by us personally.

At this point we need to make it clear: The producers from whom we source our unfinished clothing are certified, but matttma itself has no certificates! There are good reasons for this: The well-known problems in the textile industry arise primarily in the production of the garments themselves, which takes place in countries where human and environmental rights are not so strict or are strictly controlled. As we have not yet had any production carried out in a factory ourselves, but only use sample manufacturers that have already produced the garments, it is sufficient for us at this stage if only the manufacturers of the garments are certified. Further processing by matttma, i.e. mostly printing and embroidery, is carried out exclusively in print shops in Germany (Promoyard, Cantana). And the rest of the work, such as packaging, sewing on labels, etc., is done by us personally. Furthermore: In order to be allowed to declare our finished products as "organic" and "fair", each of our processing steps would have to be checked separately. Of course, this costs money and would make our products a lot more expensive, which we don't want at the moment and is not yet possible. But such in-house certification is of course one of our goals for the future. If you want to find out more about the certification of our suppliers, you can find all the information on their websites: https://earthpositive.se/about https://stanleystella.com/de-de/sustainability/certifications Of course, we also know that certificates are no guarantee that everything will be complied with. This is demonstrated by past scandals in the textile industry. But that is no argument for using uncertified suppliers, because you can be absolutely sure that they were produced under poor conditions.

The garments we source from manufacturers are all declared as vegan. With other elements, such as the yarns or screen printing inks, it is sometimes not so easy to find out, as they sometimes contain animal components depending on the color and it is sometimes a printing secret which colors are used at all. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that our products are 100% vegan.