Howies Women's NBL Graphite Light Briefs Review

Typical price:

£27

We like:

The Zque accreditation; that they're breathable; that we don't need to wash them all that often (though it takes some getting used to)

We don't like:

That they go loose when worn for a day; the lack of info about the workers in Fiji and the dyes they've used

SmartPlanet judgement:

These 100 per cent Zque-certified merino wool pants are cool and brilliant for sport as well as for everyday wear. More information about how they've been manufactured and dyed would have been greatly appreciated -- not knowing would make us hesitant to buy them. The quality is fantastic, though, and 'howies' is a good, green company, so there are major plus sides to this product, too.

Score:

Contact:

Nice Car Company at http://www.howies.co.uk/
Telephone: +44 (0)1239 614 122

As with all 'howies' clothes we've worn so far, the women's NBL graphite light briefs are great quality, comfortable and cool in a sporty way. We adore the design and feel incredibly down with the (green) kids when we wear them. Although nobody can see them. We hope.

We've tested them underneath jeans, tights and cycling trousers and they are appropriate for all three over-garments. They do tend to go slightly loose in the legs, though, as the day progresses, which can be a bit annoying for a girl who's not used to boyish boxer shorts. The merino wool makes them soft and miraculously adjusts the temperature and smell doesn't linger in them either. Good news for farty-pants. Merino base layers can, according to howies' tests, be worn for 90 days consecutively without being washed. We must admit, we don't feel like trying that out with knickers, but suppose that theoretically it could be done. Please wear panty-liners, though, before you embark on the test. Howies is so confident about the quality of its merino base layer products that it's happy to sell them on a 30-day trial. That's quite remarkable, we think.

If you can bring yourself not to wash your pants every time you've worn them (sorry, but we can't), this can dramatically reduce their environmental impact as the vast majority of energy consumed in the lifecycle of a garment is through washing. Generally speaking merino wool is very eco-friendly -- especially if you ignore the ozone-destroying gases the sheep emit -- as it's chemical-free, renewable and biodegradable.

Howies only uses Zque-accredited merino wool from New Zealand, which guarantees high quality wool produced with the utmost respect for the environment, the sheep and the human beings involved. So far, this is the highest ethical and green assurance that exists within the merino wool industry. In the future, howies might decide to use the mulesing-free Lamarée wool from wrinkle-free sheep.

We really like these knickers and we appreciate howies as a company. It's great that it donates one per cent of its turnover -- or ten per cent of pre-tax profits -- to environmental and social projects, and it's generally fantastic at spreading the green message.

But we don't like how the company avoids talking in detail about the factories that produce these underpants. There's mountains of information on the merino and the environmental benefits of this and that, but no specific information about the labour standards at the Fiji factory that makes the knickers and the dye that's been used to turn them grey. There's no independent factory auditing, which makes us cautious. Now that howies is owned by Timberland, we'd hope that the small eco label would be able to get the resources it needs to check labour conditions thoroughly, and not just be content with being green.

At just under £30 for the pants, we do expect more than great quality and a Zque accreditation. Even though the Zque cred means there's a third-party assessment of some kind, we expected more transparency on specifics.

Score breakdown:

 

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