What inspired the creation of your company, and when did it start?

A love of yoga — combined with frustration with the lack of options for eco-friendly active wear.

What is your brand’s mission, and what causes drive you and your team?

To create a company built around an eco-friendly model that also connects consumers in some way to the process of making sustainable active wear.

How is your brand socially responsible?

95% of the fabric we use is made from recycled fibers. All of our recycled polyester is dyed using a zero-water transfer process. We also have set a target of donating 10% of net profits to non-profits in the area of sustainability and environmental conservation.

What does your brand do to lower its ecological impact and/or promote environmental health and well-being?

It’s the crux of our entire model. Aside from the fabric we use and our dyeing process, we recycle all paper used in dyeing. We are almost 100% vertically integrated. We design, dye, sew and fulfill orders all under one roof. By combining this with an e-commerce model we can maintain low inventory levels to avoid waste and produce while not quite to order, almost.

Does your company perform animal testing and/or use animal-based ingredients in your products? Why or why not?

No.

Where does your company make/manufacture your products, and why?

We do almost all of our own sewing in-house. This supports our goal of keeping our production lean and quick to react, but also keeps our product line-up fresh at the same time. It also means we — and you — can be sure we’re being accurate when we say ‘sweatshop-free’.

Describe your design philosophy – how do you balance quality and affordability?

This is probably the most difficult challenge we have. Our fabric is expensive, we pay vastly more to those who sew here versus what most of our competitors pay. The average wage for those who sew at Yoga Democracy is $16/hour. Our competitors pay overseas between 50 cents to $1/hour. We can never meet the price points of the big box retailers. In terms of the premium brands who often charge upwards of $100 (versus our $75), they also often pay 50 cents to $1 per hour. Meanwhile all of their fabric costs are lower as standard fabric typically is, over eco-friendly fabric alternatives. We focus on avoiding waste and being efficient, while at the same time price our products to reflect some of the gains we make by focusing on direct to the consumer and on in-house production.

Tell us a little about the ingredients/materials you use. Generally, why did you pick them over other options?

We use three types of fabric mainly, two types of recycled nylon, and one type of recycled polyester. We source all our fabric in Italy, as I wanted to make sure we had the best available on the market in the eco-friendly segment — and feel I’ve found this from our current supplier. Our recycled nylon is made from what was once discarded fishing nets, carpets and fabric remnants. Our recycled polyester is made from recycled plastic bottles.

What are the next steps for your company?

As a new company getting out our message is first and forecast our goal. Broadening our product range is another goal. As a small company, the cost of moving into a new product category is high. We’ll carve out new spaces around the yoga community. Swimwear is something I’m very interested in as our fabric is perfect for water. This segment is being evaluated for Spring 2017.

How do you view the future of conscious consumption?

We use the catch phrase, “Made by Free Range Humans”. In the food industry, we’re understanding better the advantages of organic, free range, grass fed, etc. We’ve come a long way since the 1980’s and 1970’s in terms of being aware of how our food is produced. In the garment and textile industry, we’re at the equivalent stage of eating fruit roll ups for breakfast and thinking Diet Coke is healthy for us because it has aspartame rather than sugar. I think we’re at the very early stages of awareness, and I think we’ll start — increasingly — to ask questions of the brands we support and how they behave when we’re not looking.

As a parting sentiment, if you could only use one word to describe your brand ethos – what would it be?

Workshop-direct