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It's not everyday you get to celebrate the expansion of your business, so we bet the excitement of changing their company Cut4Cloth to Frugi got Cornish parents Lucy, Emma, Rachel and Kurt out of bed this morning without any encouragement from their kids.
Cut4Cloth, a small company making organic clothes for babies wearing cloth nappies has grown up fast and is changing its name to Frugi ('fruits of the earth' in Latin) because it's now making much more than nappy-fitting clothes. From today, Frugi's 100 per cent organic and fairly traded clothes are also fit for older kids and breastfeeding mums.
When SmartPlanet went to Cornwall last month, we were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of Frugi's spring/summer collection and were incredibly impressed with the soft, thick, stylish clothes that just screamed quality at us. We agreed with Frugi co-founder, Lucy Jewson, that while it's difficult to pick a Frugi favourite, the Swashbuckler top (above) is definitely a cutie.
Jewson also told SmartPlanet that the 100 per cent Control Union (formerly SKAL) certified organic cotton comes from India and while it's not certified Fairtrade, its Ecocert certification requires that the workers are paid fairly. Last year, she and Frugi's designer, Rachel, went to India to visit the factory that manufactures Frugi clothes and Jewson assures us it's a "state-of-the-art, modern, clean, fresh factory full of windows".
A doctor visits the factory once a week, and the 450 employees can bring their family members for free treatment, too. The families are also included in a health insurance policy, and the workers have a 'welfare committee', which makes sure all ideas, grievances, and comments from the employees are listened to.
The factory also supports a local school by providing sanitation, fresh drinking water and teaching materials.
On top of that, Frugi is carrying on Cut4Cloth's legacy of being a member of 1% For The Planet, which means it donates one per cent of its turnover to the Pesticide Action Network (PAN UK) and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Looking at Frugi from the outside, we'd never have guessed its creators didn't have any experience in manufacturing clothes. What's clear, though, is that Frugi has been created by parents who care about the planet -- and who know what it's like to have babies and toddlers.
19 January 2008 04:38pm
These new clothes are gorgeous! Found the new swashbuckler top and more for sale already at this site www.babipur.co.uk .
16 February 2008 07:48pm
I lurve cut4cloth stuff , ds had some second hand and its doing its third or 4 child now ... didn't realise they were so good about their factories and staff too, good to know.
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