Combining dedicated design and craftsmanship with an environmentally and socially conscious supply chain from sheep to shop, at Navygrey we care about who makes our clothes as much as whom we make them for.
Our Wool
Handpicked superfine wool from the softest sheep in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Woolmark certified, each raw fibre lot can be traced back to the farm that produced it, ensuring greater quality control.
A premium fibre, we chose this Merino wool for its softness, comfort and strength. Naturally breathable and odour resistant, it is natural, 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 Italian mill
We’re delighted to work with Lanecardate, one of Italy’s finest mills, in Biella, near Milan. Lanecardate is among the few spinners able to directly control its supply chain. Our wool is purchased directly at source and combed, dyed and spun in Italy.
Our wool is dyed at a family-run dye-house in Italy that works in partnership with Lanecardate.
All of the dyes we use are REACH compliant to ensure the chemical safety of our products and our process is APEO NPEO free.
Our Factory
We manufacture our jumpers in a small factory in Portugal, near Porto which complies with best practice and sustainable principles.
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.
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 100% natural cotton cord.
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.
Shipping Materials
We ship in the UK using a mix of DPD's carbon-neutral delivery service and Royal Mail.
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.
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% and we reward our customers with a £10 voucher each time they return this packaging.
Read more about our RePack partnership here.
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 place in Devon to help us out.
