Making clothes will always have an impact on the environment. At Navygrey we want to reduce that as much as we can. This is our story.
Our Wool
We work with two types of wool. A handpicked superfine Merino from sheep in Australia and New Zealand and a Lamb's Wool from South Africa.
Our Lamb's Wool is shipped by boat to our Mill in Scotland. Our Merino Wool is Woolmark certified, with each raw fibre lot traced back to the farm that produced it.
We only use the highest quality premium fibres in our jumpers - no blends. Each one 100% natural - breathable, renewable and biodegradable.
Mulesing-free
The skin of Merino sheep tends to be wrinkly and the sheep are subject to the risk of being “struck” by flies (known as “flystrike”) which deposit larvae in warm damp areas of wool and skin. The maggots which develop from larvae then proceed to eat the flesh of the sheep. If not treated, this can lead to a sheep’s death.
Mulesing is the word used to describe the surgical removal of loose folds of skin from the breach area of merino sheep. Because it is a controversial practice which can cause pain, (and anaesthetic isn’t always administered) we have chosen to source mulesing-free wool.
Our Mills
We work with two of Europe’s finest mills, Lanecardate in Italy and Todd & Duncan in Scotland.
Lanecardate, in Biella, near Milan is among the few spinners able to directly control its supply chain. Our wool is purchased directly at source (something which is very rare) and combed, dyed and spun in Italy. Read more about our Italian Mill here.
At Todd & Duncan, 85% of the dyes they use are organic and the Mill has a pioneering cyclical process so that the water used for washing and dyeing the wool can be cleaned and purified so that it can be returned to Loch Leven.
Our Factory
We manufacture our jumpers in a small, female-led factory near Porto in Portugal which complies with best health and safety practices and each knitter is paid a fair wage. We are in touch daily and regularly visit the factory.
We produce in limited quantities to ensure both quality and to avoid excess waste.
As part of the manufacturing process, as we knit in a fully fashioned way and finish by hand, we have very little yarn wastage. Any yarn that does not make it into a jumper is recycled by our factory.
Our jumpers are folded with recycled tissue paper and placed in un-dyed, organic cotton storage bags ready for shipping in cardboard boxes by road to the UK.
Packaging & Print Materials
From our factory to our Devon-based solar panelled distribution hub, to the customer, we ship our jumpers in our un-dyed 100% organic cotton drawstring bags. These bags are reusable, plastic free and printed in Sheffield in the UK at a SEDEX certified manufacturer.
We work with a lovely printing house in Hampshire in the UK and always print using 100% post-consumer FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified recycled paper. This includes everything from our tags to washing instructions included with every purchase. The manufacturing process of our card uses less energy and water and emits fewer CO2 emissions than the standard production of virgin fibre paper.
We use organic cotton brand, care and size labels printed using an Oeko-Tex certified ink. Our tags are hand-tied in the UK using a ribbon made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
Shipping Materials
We ship in the UK using DPD's carbon-neutral delivery from our solar-powered family-run Devon-based fulfilment hub.
We offer two different planet-friendly packaging options.
Our standard option is to have your jumper in a 100% recycled kraft paper box made from 100% post consumer waste here in the UK. This box can be reused and recycled. Our stickers used to seal each package are also made from 100% recycled paper.
Secondly, we’ve teamed up with RePack - an award-winning, globally unique reusable, returnable, 100% waste-free packaging service.
RePack replaces single-use delivery packaging. After receiving your jumper, simply fold the packaging down into letter size and drop it into any post box, free of charge. RePack reduces CO2 emissions by 80%. (Please note, due to COVID we have had to suspend this packaging option but we hope to be able to reinstate it soon).
Our Garden Studio
Our HQ is based in a very small studio in our Founder Rachel’s garden in South West London.
Made from sustainable Cedar wood with a green living roof, this studio is our first HQ.
When we began, we shipped each jumper from this studio, but we soon ran out of space which is why we found our wonderful solar-powered place in Devon to help us out.
