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Our report

2024 Sustainability Report

Doing right by the planet, its resources and the people and creatures who walk it is part and parcel of who we are at Navygrey. There are certain core initiatives that ensure sustainable practices are a constant part of our brand and product narratives, but on top of that, there are further missions we mark out in the sand to achieve year by year. You can find a summary of all matters sustainability in our round-up report here, updated annually so you can see our relentless efforts to do more and to do better.

In 2024 we:
  • Celebrate our recent B-Corp accreditation: in 2023 we were thrilled to finally announce Navygrey was now a certified B-Corp. 80 is the minimum score required. 50.9 is the average. We came out with a mighty 91.8 that left us all smiling from ear to ear. From the word go, our founder Rachel wanted to form a brand that was so much more than the product that it sold. A force for good' is how she refers to Navgyrey, and by joining the 8,254 and counting fellow B-Corps across the globe, we can wear that sustainable badge with pride as it propels us forward to make only greater efforts still.
  • Make inroads with Masters of Linen: love wool as we do, in 2024 we'll be welcoming linen into our collection. It's something we've been working hard at for several seasons now so that we could create our very own completely timeless and traceable linen shirt that aligned with all of our brand values. The Navygrey shirt will carry the Masters of LinenTM certification – a marker for the highest grade of natural European flax fibre that is then transformed by certified EU spinners and weavers into linen yarn and fabric that we'll use on our shirting. This way, we keep our quality sky high and our carbon footprint down low.
  • Increase our British wool quota: year on year we up the amount of wool we source from British farms. Currently, XX% of our wool hails from UK farms across Yorkshire with a goal to increase that by XX% this year.
  • Develop our own yarn: going one step further still, this year we will release two completely unique yarns that are British through and through. The nature of our climate and thus our breeds of sheep mean that beautifully soft and smooth wool typically comes from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand such as the sort we use from certified farms on our lambswool knits. But we've been experimenting with blends using British breeds to form a softer homegrown wool. The first pairs Cheviot wool with the supreme Blue-faced Leicester, and the second mixes our friend the Blue-faced Leicester sheep with the long and lustrous Masham fleece. We'll be revealing that later in 2024 in an undyed natural tone and an organic navy.
  • Introduce regenerative leather: off-cuts sourced from within the UK put to good use is the plan, with a very exciting capsule collection coming in time for autumn. Watch this space!
  • Welcome Shetland sheep: genuine Shetland wool from sheep in the Shetland Islands (we stress this because there's an alarming amount of faux Shetland products out there) is another textile first for us coming later this year to pay homage to iconic Fair Isle in a truly authentic knit.
As a standard we:
  • Support regenerative methods of working: as well as making in the British Isles to support our farming and UK manufacturing communities, our way of working at head office is about regeneration too. By digging deeper and always going the extra mile (not air miles though!) to be as progressive as can be with our fibres, yarns and knits we get as close as we're able to honest clothing. We call it pragmatic optimism. Unearthing the best materials in terms of quality but also where and how pieces are made is a process, and not an overnight one. 100% of our wool isn't 100% there yet, because it takes time. But our promise is to only ever bring products into the collection that are true, honest and traceable, and to work tirelessly to only make things more and more regenerative as we go.
  • Work with homegrown wool: we're huge supporters of the homegrown wool movement, creating many of our knits from one of the finest wools in the whole of Britain - the Bluefaced Leicester. It's a snowy breed with a superfine fleece that's considered a valuable alternative to Australian merino, so much so that many customers have asked us whether it's a form of cashmere it's that soft. If there are materials that we can source for our collections on home soil then rest assured we will, to celebrate our heritage yes, but more than anything to keep down unnecessary air miles.
  • Keep our carbon footprint small: continuing on from our campaign to use homegrown wool, you'll notice on many of our knits that we mention how many miles have gone into making that piece. Take our Field Crew as an example which takes just 125 miles from the fibre sourced to the finished garment. Yes, we source some wool from further afield if that's right for the piece, like our lambswool that our Scottish mill sources and spins from certified farms in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and arrives by boat to our mill in Kinross which is where the magic happens.
  • Champion repairing rather than replacing: ours are knits that we see staying with you for a lifetime. We even pack every knit in an organic cotton or linen pouch to help keep its safe when it's not over your shoulders. The palette, the shape, the quality of the hand-linking and finishing means they won't ever fall out of fashion. But these are knits to love and use, and with that comes the occasional pull or maybe a moth might take a fancy to your funnel neck later down the line (who can blame it?) and there's a pesky hole to plug. In such cases, we say to always go down the repair route rather than to replace. It's a principle we get behind so much that you'll sometimes notice Repaired x Renewed x Refreshed garments on our website - pieces that need some TLC but we want to see go onto live happy lives in happy wardrobes. We're also in the throes of formalising our lifetime repair service - more details on that to follow but until then, you can always email repair@navygrey.com
  • Use natural packaging: every part of the process matters and that extends to packaging. We only ever print on recycled or algae paper, and our knits come in their own organic cotton or linen pouch to protect them in your drawers. Even the labels in our clothing use 100% organic cotton labels - too many still feature shiny polyester and there's just no need — and if you see a button, it'll be made from nuts or sustainable sourced mother of pearl.
  • Join hands with incredible makers: we invest in people as much as we do ingredients and ethical practices. From our mills to our farms, we choose our people carefully and we have nothing but admiration for what they do. Whether it's Ana and Vania in Portugal, Allan in Scotland or John and Charlotte in Nottinghamshire, they're responsible for bringing our knits into being and they're truly fantastic at what they do. And because they do things properly – craft techniques, fair wages and all — it means we'll never be a brand making the cheapest knits, because true quality costs, and you really do get what you pay for.
  • Form charitable initiatives: as well as developing a partnership with a farming charity, we have a key partnership with the Family Holiday Charity. Each year, we host a Turning Jumpers into Holidays online sale where we raise thousands of pounds to help give those who aren't able to afford holidays in the snow, the sea or by the sea time away to live life. Holidays are a privilege, and we might all need to tighten our belts at times but imagine never being able to have one. There's a huge amount of people who can't and this year we'll be making our July sale bigger and an in-person event to spread that support wider still.
Full report

Want to dig a bit deeper?

Read our full B-corp report here, and for any further information on our never-ending mission to be more planet-conscious, email us at beingthoughtful@navygrey.com

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