Sunray Sportswear
We have a been working with Sunray Sportswear for a while now, so we thought it was time to get to know each other a little better. We caught up with the founder Colin Campbell, and discussed rare breeds of organic sheep, Japanese recycled cotton, and of course - green labels.
First a bit about Sunray Sportswear
For those not familiar with Sunray Sportswear, their products are sold via selected premium menswear stores and soon to be women’s, both in the UK and internationally. More than just another T-shirt brand, these are garments you would admire on the bodies of the stylish and beautiful in magazines like i-D and Dazed and Confused.
It is cool, but what about the quality?
The fabric is produced on traditional machines in Japan, which make just 1m of fabric per hour (a medium T Shirt needs roughly 1.2m) and offering a jersey that has no side seams, no tension and like no other. They lay a long length of cotton yarn down in a very slow and circular motion, without any form of tension and drawing in air to sit between each layer. It is that special.
These machines were replaced in the 50’s by ones that can produce 100’s of metres of fabric per hour, where speed overtook quality as the primary aim. More human progress?
We love the eco bits, what are they?
90% of their T-shirts are produced using a very special Japanese recycled cotton called Ochiwata. Colin added:
“We have always packaged everything in potato starch bags, that are produced on brown field sites, so as not take up room for food production. They are fully home compostable. All our neck labels are produced using 100% recycled polyester. Our hang tags are printed on fully recycled card, using vegetable inks and from a carbon neutral printer. The wool that hangs the tags comes from an organic herd of rare breed of sheep that graze on Dartmoor. The tape we use on our boxes is recycled paper using vegetable glue. The document envelopes are made of vegetable starch and fully compostable.
Every shipment we send out is also carbon neutralised.”
There is not a hint of plastic anywhere!
How do the GREEN LABEL company fit in to the story?
For Sunray, every part of their process must be as planet friendly as possible and via companies that really do care, not just another green washer. When asked about green labels, Colin said:
“When we needed some stickers, we scoured the market to see who was offering what, and it became very clear that the only people we felt who could make our stickers were the GREEN LABEL company. Their level of knowledge, their attention to detail and, of course, their eco credentials, meant our stars aligned and we are now 4 production runs in, with more to follow. Not only was their knowledge priceless but the production quality was first class and on time. All what you need when placing an order.”
We believe that the GREEN LABEL company and Sunray will have a long and enjoyable partnership and if, between us, we can plant even a small ‘planet friendly’ seed into a few more people, then we have done our job.
To find out more about Sunray Sportswear, visit their website here. Or you can follow their journey on Instagram.
To find out more about biodegradable labels, get in touch with us, we will be very happy to hear from you and support you in your efforts to be coming more eco-friendly!
