The Perfect T-Shirt | Fashionhedge

The product

What would you look for if you were trying to find the perfect white t-shirt? Would you focus on the fabric, the design, the quality or that it’s responsibly made? Really, you need all of those , and that’s what The White T-Shirt Co has been doing since 2002.

I am skeptical of organic cotton and some brands out there that claim to be sustainable, many times it’s hard to find the details on where their materials really come from and how are their processes sustainable or ethical. The White T-Shirt Co gave me all the info and I was able to verify the quality of the product myself.

The company has a clearly mapped out supply chain and strategic partnerships that make its sourcing process bulletproof. They work with experienced organic cotton manufacturers and I believe they have created a truly special product, definitely in the luxury category, but significantly cheaper than Kanye West’s overpriced white t-shirt, for example.

The White T-Shirt Co. materials tables

As the rebel I am, I had to choose a black shirt from a brand called The WHITE T-shirt Company… But I couldn’t help it, black is my favorite ♥ I can’t say more than this is the best shirt I’ve ever owned, it feels different to all my other black t-shirts, it fits better and seems of a stronger material. At the same time, it was lighter and I felt fresh on a hot day in California! Even the packaging was outstanding: a very thin box made with eco-friendly materials, their packaging is in compliance with the the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sedex, minimalist but packaged with care and extreme attention to detail. They also offer a service where you can get your shirt fitted, luckily mine fit great, so I didn’t have to use it, but I was very pleased with the cuteness of it all, definitely not “just” a plain t-shirt.

Photos!

Wearing The White T-Shirt Co’s black fitted 3/4 sleeve shirt, gray nail polish ♥, organic mascara, ankle strap sandals and my favorite sunglasses right now.

Interview

I had the pleasure to get in contact with the company’s founder, Penny Jones, and she kindly answered a few questions for me:

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your involvement in the fashion industry and what set you on the quest for the perfect t-shirt.

My degree is in Fashion & Textile design but actually it’s always been the retail side of design that has me most excited. I love seeing something grow from nothing and then seeing it as a ‘must have’ in some ones shopping basket! It was for this reason that I moved from a company Design Director and Buyer at Harrods to working on my own; I think I just got to the stage of not wanting to compromise anymore and being satisfied that the products I brought to shelf had the quality, value and ethics that I was comfortable with. I am white t-shirt devotee; it’s just one of those key wardrobe items that can never go wrong but the perfect one was always surprisingly elusive! It was while I had a little time on maternity leave though that my ‘white t-shirt’ quest really began. By good fortune I came across Novotex, the pioneering company behind Green Cotton. Green Cotton was the first clothing company in the world to go organic way back in the 80’s. They obviously had the experience, knowledge and expertise to ensure we could bring together my vision of quality with their sustainability credentials. The result is our beautiful collection of simple, classic essentials, all GOTS certified, fully transparent and sold with an ethical promise of long life!

Can you talk about the consumer preferences shift towards more sustainable and ethically sourced clothes?

We’ve found this interesting. When we first launched we found most of our customers had little in interest in how, let alone by who their t-shirts were made. All they were interested in were great quality t-shirts. This has changed. People became increasingly aware of the environmental impact of garment production and then Rana Plaza made people aware of the hidden human misery behind some labels. I guess this happened first with the food that we eat – we became increasingly concerned about the supply chain. The same thing is happening in the fashion industry. Consumers expect brands to know where their garments came from and as long as they see where their money is going, and it’s not just into profit margin for the directors then I do think they are willing to pay a little bit more. It’s been fabulous seeing so much understatement coming through the recent Fashion Weeks, which again just reinforces the trend towards customers buy less but better.

You have a transparent supply chain, providing information about each step and every country involved in the production process. How hard was it to have such oversight over the entire manufacturing cycle? Why do you think most companies don’t do this?

This was actually why we partnered with Novotex. Novotex are GOTS certified manufacturers which is the highest global organic standard. This means that their whole supply chain is transparent and all those in the supply chain are monitored for their social and environmental responsibilities. It would have been extremely difficult to do ourselves when you think of the different materials and processes which go into delivering one garment. It wasn’t exactly a short cut but more the confidence of using external expertise and to make sure we were doing the right thing which is certainly what I’d advice anyone starting from scratch to do. For us, however, it was the quality of our garments which added the complexity and this was the part that took the time as we had to find ways around some of the environmental restraints on knitting and production. I think more and more companies will be doing this. The companies that have always done this have upped their game in terms of design and quality and ‘ethical/sustainable’ fashion is now an integral part of the fashion industry and on the catwalks.

How difficult was it to move away from the “traditional” manufacturing hubs into countries like Ukraine and Turkey? Is the world missing out on resources available in places we wouldn’t normally think of as “manufacturing” specialists?

We knew the quality of garment we wanted and we knew that quality has to start with the organic cotton itself. Turkey is renowned for the quality of their cotton due to the near perfect climatic conditions so as a supply base Turkey was a natural choice. Novotex already have an ‘approved supplier list’ so we worked with them to identify the correct supplier for us, who could supply the quality that we wanted. The factory in Ukraine is actually owned by Novotex so again meets GOTS environmental requirements and is an integral part of our supply chain due to their close proximity to Corlu where our cotton is knitted. For us Turkey and Ukraine are also easily accessible so working closely with those involved in our t-shirts is so much easier.

Do you see the product becoming more desirable for other retailers to make graphic t-shirts and will you explore the wholesale side of the market?

We are always interested in collaborating with others and certainly a white t-shirt is a fabulous blank canvas! However, I’m aware that because we invested in quality and workmanship we have put the focus on understatement. This does make our t-shirts comparatively expensive for others to then embellish – although we know customers themselves sometimes do! We only launched earlier this year so to date we have concentrated on our on-line business but yes we are defiantly ready to start talking to wholesalers.

My verdict: is this a good t-shirt, NO, it’s fucking great!

You can follow The White T-Shirt Co. on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. And shop right here.

Where in the world?

In a nutshell: the cotton is grown and made into fabric in from Turkey, then the fabric is cut and stitched in Ukraine, inspected in Denmark and finally shipped to the UK to be distributed.