100% ORGANIC COTTON – What does that mean?
If you’ve already browsed the SURU STUDIOS website, you’ve probably noticed that the term 100% organic cotton keeps popping up. Organic cotton here, GOTS and OEKO-TEX® certificates there, but what is it actually about? As you may already know, our label focuses on high quality basics made out of 100% organic cotton, which are both timeless and durable. Starting with our t-shirts and tops, continuing with our sweatshirts and hoodies, and ending with our sweatpants and canvas bags – all of our jersey styles are made from organic cotton. In this blog post, we’ll tell you why we use sustainable materials such as organic cotton and which benefits come with this choice.
What’s the difference between regular and organic cotton?
Unlike conventional cotton, organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers. The cultivation is according to the guidelines of organic farming, which are ideally controlled by independent agencies. These agencies in turn award certificates such as GOTS, OEKO-TEX® 100, Responsible Wool Standard, Fair Wair Foundation etc. As a consumer, you should orient yourself on these certificates and seals. If you do so you can be sure that your clothes are made under fair working conditions from sustainable materials.
Now we’ve already told you about the consumer side, but what does it look like from the producer’s point of view? Organic cotton can be processed just as well as conventional cotton. In fact, since organic cotton is harvested by hand, the harvested raw material is usually of a higher quality and purer variety than conventional cotton. But if you decide to use organic cotton, you also have to keep in mind a few disadvantages. First of all, the procurement of organic cotton takes longer than the acquisition of conventional cotton and therefore the delivery time for the manufacturers is longer. On top of that the certification is quite time-consuming and expensive for fashion brands. To be completely honest with you: If you use conventional cotton, the production and processing would be much easier. Nevertheless, SURU also accepts the disadvantages because we stand up for using organic cotton. In our case the raw cotton is locally harvested in our production country Bangladesh and spun into yarn there as well. This yarn is then transported to the production facilities, knitted into fabric panels and then dyed. All of these steps are quite time-consuming and complex, but because we stand behind our sustainable choices, we accept all this effort.
Why we have chosen organic cotton for our products
After hearing about these disadvantages, you may wonder what made us continue to make our products from pure organic cotton. On the one hand, we want to be a transparent fashion brand that always tries to make sustainable decisions, which means that only the most organic materials come into consideration for us. On the other hand, we also want to offer products to our customers that are durable, long-lasting and recyclable. Speaking of recycling: It is important to us, that our SURU products can be fully recycled at the end of their life cycle. It has been proven that recycling cotton saves a lot of resources and contributes to more sustainability in fashion. That’s the reason why we are committed to avoiding artificial materials as much as possible. It is well known that synthetic fibers such as polyester cannot be naturally degraded. When we wash our clothes, tiny pieces of fiber, known as microfibers, come off and these microfibers from synthetic fabrics are nothing other than microplastics. Just like plastic beads from cosmetic products and abrasion from plastic packaging, they ultimately end up in the ocean. And exactly this disgrace needs to stop. It is up to us to create a better future. Let’s start together: SURU “The beginning” is now!
Our conclusion
As you can see, we put a lot of thought into being as sustainable and environmentally conscious as possible, however it is a permanent learning process and we are constantly evolving. And that’s exactly what SURU STUDIOS is all about. It’s important to us to play a part in making the fashion industry more conscious. We are looking forward to walking the path towards sustainability together with YOU. Welcome to the SURU STUDIOS community – we’re so glad to have you be part of our journey!
