Category: Press

The latest protest t-shirts from Katharine Hamnett take aim at some of the most toxic attitudes and prejudices afflicting our culture.

Her new slogan, BE ANTI-RACIST, is a call for the daily dismantling of racism in all its forms.

To be silently non-racist is to be a bystander, complacent in the assumption that the world is changing for the better.

The fashion industry is slow to change, with supply chains still profiting from pollution and poverty, but on this issue it cannot be silent.

“Slogan t-shirts are designed to put ideas in your brain.

You can’t not read them.

They make you think, and hopefully do the right thing.”

For further information, images or samples, please contact: press@katharinehamnett.com

I am hugely impressed with the bravery and commitment of Extinction Rebellion to force governments to commit to prioritise dealing with the Climate Crisis.

They’ve done it. They’ve woken people up across the globe, but I think they should stop marching now and move on, and use the next level of safer more powerful tactics from afar.

Marches, petitions, t-shirts, peaceful protests are all great, they make you feel wonderful, but they are a bubble, they have no teeth. They give you the illusion of having achieved something for a cause – but you will achieve nothing unless you take one further step – because they are appealing to the better nature of people who in many cases do not have one. 

We have to modernise our tactics.

The only thing that changes politicians’ behaviour (because that is what we are talking about) is something that threatens their ability to get elected.

Historically, traditional peaceful protest movements have failed. Look at the Peace movement and the Environmental movement.

Given the amount of time they have been going, in some cases 50 yrs (CND), the millions of people that have participated, and the man and woman hours that have been spent – they have achieved extraordinarily little. 

We’ve still got nuclear weapons and nuclear power, we invaded Iraq and the planet is dying.

We have to contact our MPs and elected representatives; it’s easy to block emails so it is better to write a letter.

Politicians regard each letter they receive as representing the views of 1000 people – as so few people write. 

Hand address it. 

Tell them we won’t vote for them next time unless they represent our views and you’ll be watching how they vote; commit to a Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal has to be a cross-party government priority and long term commitment to a lower CO2 economy with a view to devolving completely out of fossil fuels, and committing to huge investment across the board into the Clean Renewable Energy sector in all its manifestations, regardless of what party is in power. This not only cuts emissions but creates a huge amount of jobs.

Britain has the best renewable energy potential in Europe with a 17,000 mile coastline. It has huge offshore wind potential, deep marine currents running at the equivalent force of 200 mile p/h winds, massive tides, as well as solar, methane, even some geo-thermal.

It should be kicked off by reinstating a new “Feed-In Tariff” supported by all parties, price index-linked for 30 years.  Privately/domestically generated electricity can be sold to the grid immediately. This is how the Germans are doing it.

Banning fracking immediately because fracked oil and gas are fossil fuel.

We need to introduce legislation and grants for all transport to be converted to hydrogen – the climate game changer. It can even be used for shipping and aviation.

It’s easy to convert existing combustion engines to it immediately, e.g cars. It’s cheap to make locally, using renewably sourced electricity, and when you burn it, all it gives off is water vapour.

Replace Britain’s ageing infrastructure with a new high speed super grid. We could be selling clean energy to other countries.

We need a modern approach to dealing with our waste recycling. We are in the dark ages. 

Start writing to your MPs.

Katharine Hamnett

UPDATED MARCH 2019

RESPONSIBLE SOURCING POLICY

1. INTRODUCTION

We are committed to only using raw materials from sustainable sources; organic, bio-based,

regenerated or recycled.

We are 100% transparent about all raw materials (fabrics, trims and components) that we use to make

our products, explaining how we verify their sustainability credentials and the reasons we choose the

materials we do.

We will only use conventional raw materials in exceptional circumstances where there is no highquality,

commercially viable, sustainable alternative with equivalent performance properties available.

When this occurs, we work with our suppliers to support them in developing more sustainable

alternatives. We will always look for ways to lessen our impact and implement solutions.

2. SCOPE OF THE POLICY

This policy applies to the sourcing of raw materials used in products that we design and manufacture.

Sustainability issues linked to processes used in the production of our products (e.g. Chemicals, Waste,

Water Use, Wastewater Treatment, Energy, Air Emissions etc.) are covered in the Katharine Hamnett

London Environmental Policy.

3. TRACEABILITY

We are working to trace the origin of our raw materials, one-by-one. We understand how difficult this

process is, due to the complexity of raw material supply chains so we work closely with our

manufacturers, fabric suppliers and mills to trace the full route of our materials step-by-step, from

origin to finished product.

4. IMPLEMENTATION

We have processes in place with our design, sourcing and production teams to ensure that we uphold

the standards set out in this policy. We work closely with our suppliers to make sure they understand

our values and that we understand theirs.

Suppliers are required to provide evidence, demonstrating compliance with this policy before we place

an order with them. We will always support our suppliers on sustainability progress where needed, as

developing long-term relationships with suppliers is important to our brand.

We update this Responsible Sourcing Policy with every collection or in line with significant sustainability

developments.

UPDATED MARCH 2019

5. RAW MATERIAL SOURCING

3A. PLANT DERIVED RAW MATERIALS

We use the following plant derived raw materials under the conditions outlined below:

• GOTS Organic Cotton

• Conventional Cotton

• LYOCELLä/MODALä/TENCELä (LENZINGä)

• Organic Linen

• Corozo

• Card and Paper

ORGANIC COTTON

• We are committed to growing the demand for certified organic cotton globally and 99% of cotton

we source is certified organic (+/- 1% depending on units produced in each collection).

• We only use Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton.

CONVENTIONAL COTTON

• We do not permit the use of conventional cotton in our fabrics. Cotton fabrics must be 100%

GOTS certified organic cotton.

• Conventional cotton is used for our stitching thread and minor trims only, when there is no

commercially viable option available. We are working to switch to certified organic cotton for all

thread and trims, bringing our use of organic cotton up to 100%.

LYOCELLä/MODALä/TENCELä (LENZINGä)

• We only source cellulose based fabrics that are produced using the LENZINGä process, a closed

loop production process that does not discharge toxic chemicals into the environment.

• We are committed to ensuring that wood pulp used to produce any cellulose based fabrics that we

source, does not come from ancient or endangered forests. LENZINGä procure wood and pulp

from Forest Stewardship Council (FSCÒ) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest

Certification (PEFCä) certified sustainable sources*.

LINEN

• We use linen for its inherent sustainability properties; derived from flax, which requires no

fertilisers/herbicides/pesticides or irrigation in its cultivation.

• We only use 100% GOTS certified organic linen.

COROZO

• Derived from the Tagua nut tree, Corozo seeds used to make Corozo buttons are harvested

naturally when they are ripe and at their most durable for producing buttons.

• We use Corozo as it is a fully biodegradable, renewable resource.

CARD AND PAPER

• We are committed to ensuring that any wood pulp used to produce our packaging does not come

from ancient or endangered forests.

• We only use wood pulp based fibres sourced from forests certified to the FSCÒ for our packaging.

UPDATED MARCH 2019

3B. ANIMAL DERIVED RAW MATERIALS

We use the following animal derived raw materials under the conditions outlined below:

• Animal Hair; Wool, Cashmere, Mohair, Regenerated Baby Camel Hair, Alpaca

• Silk

• Recycled Down

• Regenerated Animal Derived Leather

• Farmed Mother of Pearl

ANIMAL HAIR

• We give preference to animal hair from regenerated or recycled sources.

• All virgin animal hair used in our products must come from farms with high animal welfare

standards, preferably accredited/certified by a recognised body – we are committed to upholding

the highest animal welfare standards, based on the internationally recognised ‘Five Freedoms’ for

animal welfare.

• Virgin animal hair used in our products must be gathered, clipped, shorn or combed/groomed only.

Wool

• We give preference to wool from regenerated or recycled sources, supporting the traditional

process of mechanically reworking fabric offcuts into new yarn, that has been widely in use in the

Prato area since the 1800’s. This process can however affect the durability of certain fibres and in

these cases, we use virgin wool.

• All virgin wool fibres must come from farms with high animal welfare standards, preferably GOTS

certified or ZQÔ certified in certain cases.

• All virgin wool fibres must come from farms that do not practice mulesing. Wool originating from

Australia must be declared as ‘non-mulesed’ (NM) or ‘ceased-mulesed’ (CM) in National Wool

Declaration (NWD) documentation.

Cashmere

• We actively source sustainable alternatives to virgin cashmere fibres, due to the negative social and

environmental impacts caused by current cashmere production practices in Mongolia and other

cashmere producing regions.

• We give preference to cashmere from regenerated or recycled sources, supporting the traditional

process of mechanically reworking fabric offcuts into new yarn, that has been widely in use in the

Prato area since the 1800’s. This process can however affect the durability of certain fibres and in

these cases, we use virgin cashmere.

• We experiment with different types of wool compositions to find the highest performing sustainable

blend and will only ever use a small % of fully traceable virgin cashmere fibres in these instances.

Regenerated Baby Camel Hair

• We source Regenerated Baby Camel Hair as a more sustainable alternative to virgin cashmere

fibres, as camel hair has similar performance properties to cashmere and regenerating it extends

the life of this lightweight and luxurious fibre.

Alpaca

• We experiment with different types of wool compositions to find the highest performing sustainable

blend. We use a small % of alpaca for added smoothness, softness and durability.

• Alpaca is one of our preferred fibres when it comes to wool blends, as alpacas are raised without

the need for toxic chemicals, minimising the impact of their farming on the environment and they

create less damage to soil, than cashmere goats for example.

UPDATED MARCH 2019

Mohair

• We are aware of animal welfare abuses in mohair supply chains and are working to ensure that we

uphold the highest animal welfare standards while continuing to support credible local herders in

mohair producing regions.

• Mohair sourced from South Africa should come from farms audited to the Mohair South Africa

Sustainable Mohair Production Guidelines.

• We are following the development of the Textile Exchange Responsible Mohair Standard for best

practice standards in mohair producing regions.

SILK

• Our silk comes from conventional sources. We have trialled alternatives, Peace Silk for example,

but found that supporting our existing Italian supplier to create a fully certified supply chain of

GOTS organic silk is the best option for our brand. We want to encourage other suppliers to

convert to sustainable silk and drive the supply of a more commercially viable option.

• Our silk is dyed using low impact GOTS certified dyes.

RECYCLED DOWN

• We do not use virgin down or feathers due to animal welfare issues, live plucking and force feeding

for example.

• We only use recycled down certified to the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

REGENERATED ANIMAL DERIVED LEATHER

• We do not use virgin leather but we do use a small amount of regenerated animal derived leather to

reinforce buckles in one of our products.

• All regenerated animal derived leather should be certified to a credible standard and the source of

the leather used for regeneration should be verifiable.

HORN

• We have used horn buttons in the most recent collections prior to this policy update.

• Due to difficulties in assuring animal derived materials as by-products of the meat industry, we are

working to phase out horn buttons, trialling more sustainable alternatives, recycled nylon for

example.

MOTHER OF PEARL

• We only accept farmed mother of pearl for our buttons, that come from reputable suppliers who

can verify the origin and provide animal welfare and biodiversity protection assurances.

3D. MINERAL DERIVED RAW MATERIALS

We use the following mineral derived raw materials under the conditions outlined below:

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL

• We only accept crystal embellishment from Swarovski, as Swarovski crystal is sustainably produced

to their Advanced Crystal standard. This ensures that the crystal glass and all other materials in its

composition, contain 0.009% lead or less.

3C. SYNTHETIC RAW MATERIALS

We use the following synthetic materials under conditions outlined below:

• Virgin Petroleum Derived Fibres

• Elastane

• Recycled Polyester & Recycled Nylon

UPDATED MARCH 2019

VIRGIN PETROLEUM DERIVED FIBRES

• We are working to eliminate all virgin petroleum derived materials and that includes switching to

recycled alternatives where more high-quality, commercially viable options become available.

• We give preference to petroleum derived fabrics that are 100% recycled from industrial waste

and/or post-consumer waste and certified to a credible standard e.g. Global Recycled Standard

(GRS).

• We do use virgin petroleum derived fibres in a portion of our trims (zips, shoulder pads and a small

percentage of stitching thread) and three of our fabric blends contain a small percentage of

elastane.

ELASTANE

• We allow a small amount of elastane across three of our products; 2% of elastane in some of our

denim to offer a commercially viable fit, 5% in knitted mesh for durability and 22% in our swimwear

fabric, as we have yet to find a swim fabric innovation that does not require the use of elastane for

performance purposes.

• We are working to phase out the use of elastane completely, particularly in denim by highlighting

the benefits of raw denim fit to consumers and hopefully stimulating a market shift away from

elastane blend fabrics.

RECYCLED POLYESTER & RECYCLED NYLON

• We only use recycled polyester that is 100% recycled from industrial waste and/or post-consumer

waste (e.g. plastic bottles) and certified to the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).

• We only use recycled nylon that is 100% recycled from industrial waste (e.g. discarded fishing nets)

and post-consumer waste that is certified to the Oeko-TexÒ certified and/or Global Recycled

Standard (GRS). We are also exploring bio-based nylon options for our upcoming collection.

6. RAW MATERIALS THAT WE DO NOT USE

We do not permit the use of the following:

• Conventional Acetate

• Conventional Cotton Fabrics

• Conventional Nylon Fabrics

• Conventional Polyester Fabrics

• Conventional Viscose

• EVA

• Exotic Skins

• Fur (including Angora)

• PVC

• Virgin Animal Derived Leather

• Virgin Down and Feathers

• Virgin Wool Fibres from farms that practice mulesing

• Virgin Petroleum Derived Fabrics

The materials listed here as ones that we do not use, are materials that we deem the most important to

highlight due to their environmental, social and economic impacts. It is however, not an exhaustive list.

We are always monitoring the latest sustainability developments and innovations and will update this list

accordingly.

* To support businesses who cannot afford sophisticated and expensive certification procedures, minor volumes of wood are purchased from small-scale

producers which Lenzing wood buyers are very familiar with. These partners prove their sustainability commitment continuously to Lenzing’s wood

procurement and forestry experts.

At Katharine Hamnett London we keep our collections small and never destroy or dispose of our excess stock, always storing for re-sale, upcycling, recycling and donating where we can. At this sale you will find samples, archive re-issues and discontinued stock from past collections.

Read the full article here https://www.therakishgent.co.uk/pages/want-newthisweek-09062019https://www.therakishgent.co.uk/pages/want-newthisweek-09062019

The Luxury List – featuring Global Green New Deal Now T-Shirt,

read the full article here https://www.countryandtownhouse.co.uk/style/shopping-luxury-list/

At a glance: the UK fashion industry contributes some £32.3 billion(approximately $42 billion) to the country’s GDP. It also employs 10,000 European staff and around £10 billion (approximately $13 billion) worth of clothes and accessories are imported from Europe every year.

Read the full article here https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/brexit-uk-designers/

”Vi er nødt til at få styr på lortet, ellers er der ingenting tilbage” https://www.dmogt.dk/branchenyt/vi-er-noedt-til-at-faa-styr-paa-lortet-ellers-er-der-ingenting-tilbage

The Copenhagen Fashion Summit celebrated its 10th anniversary last week, a milestone accompanied by the tagline “10 Years of Rewriting Fashion” splashed across T-shirts and posters—though “celebrated” may be the wrong word.. Read the full article here https://www.vogue.com/article/copenhagen-fashion-summit-sustainability-news-takeaways