2020 has been such a tough year for so many people and businesses. It's against this backdrop of a difficult year that we’ve decided to celebrate Green Friday, not Black Friday. A celebration that focuses on making small differences to contribute positively to the world and ourselves.

I founded Navygrey at the start of 2019 and just like last year, we are not participating in Black Friday. Our focus is on season-less knitwear classics, small batch production and transparency from the start to finish. 

That need for transparency in our supply chain - from the raw materials - the sheep - to our online shop, working with natural fibres and small suppliers and craftsmen here in the UK and across Europe takes time. 

Similarly, to work sustainably in the true sense of the word – producing in small batches where every detail matters, right down to the organic cotton care labels and to plastic free packaging made from 100% recycled (and recyclable) materials – comes at a higher cost. And that’s what we must factor into each jumper we create.

We chatted to Krissy Turner, The Telegraph's Shopping editor about how Black Friday undermines we stand for as a small sustainable brand and how we just can't discount at the scale demanded by Black Friday. You can read more about why Black Friday is tricky for small brands here. 

Fairer pricing all-year-round

We deliberately don’t follow the traditional wholesale model where our products are sold within department stores. By not doing this, we can continue to create our jumpers in small batches to ensure quality and it also means we can keep our pricing fair all year round without the wholesale mark-up. And that is why we regularly sell out. 

Discounting at the scale demanded on Black Friday would not only mean we would be selling at a loss (thereby threatening our ability to continue to operate sustainably into the future), it would, just as importantly, go against our ethos of ‘buy less, buy well’ and our commitment to our customers to create great products, at a fair price for everyone in the Navygrey supply chain.

And long term, discounted pricing is unsustainable as it suggests it's possible to sell products at that cheaper price and sets a new, albeit incorrect bar of what the true cost to make things is.

Celebrate. Choose well 

We do however understand that this year has been a tough one, and we are all looking for little lifts.

Amidst this crazy retail week, if you want to buy something new from a responsible brand for you or someone you love, then do. Please do. Don’t feel guilty. The brand will welcome your purchase and support. It will mean so very much to them – and as founder - I really do appreciate every single jumper purchase. It means the world to us to see people supporting our business and loving our jumpers.

So to celebrate, from Thursday 26th November until midnight on Monday 30th November, we're offering FREE GLOBAL shipping on all orders and carbon offsetting each of those shipments. We will also be donating 10% of all sales to The Woodland Trust's Big Climate Fightback.

Please enter the code BUYWELL at checkout.

But above all, if you do one thing this week amidst the Black Friday noise, we also want to encourage people to wrap up and head outside. If this year of COVID-19 has told us anything, we need our green spaces now more than ever.

And ultimately, nature will always trump purchasing something for the sake of it. So go on. Buy well. Buy better. And be part of nature. It’s beautiful out there.

x Rachel, Founder, Navygrey