KeepGreenGoing

Rapanui Clothing is an organic and sustainable clothing company based on the Isle of Wight, using organic, natural and ethical fabrics coupled with their response to climate change (using factories with their own wind and solar panels, biodiesel vans and carbon offset warehousing), Rapanui has a fair claim to being one of the greenest clothing companies on the planet… and that’s on its product’s credentials alone.

Set up by surfing brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight, 23 and 21 respectively, the brothers were motivated to influence environmental change after becoming ill from surfing in polluted waters. Mart wears scars from a skin infection caused by pollution; Rob spent three days of a holiday in France in bed due to sickness caused by field run-off. Added to these personal issues, Mart’s studies in the field of Renewable Energy engineering gave the brothers insight into the convergence of crisis our planet is facing. They felt they wanted to make a difference.

Rapanui is the vehicle of this inspiration; garments are manufactured in Fairwear Foundation audited factories - ensuring that at every stage of the garment manufacturing process workers are guaranteed a fair deal. Their products are also undergoing license for fair trade.

For finishing, local businesses are used to support the local community and minimize transport emissions. All workers are provided with a bike, cycle rack and shower access at the Rapanui HQ. The garments themselves are made of sustainable bamboo, organic cotton and convergence cotton. The organic products are also double certified under the soil association standard and the global organic textile standard.

Rapanui’s latest product, convergence cotton is grown using organic agriculture methods on land re-claimed from commercial farmers. Within three years the plot will show no trace of the previous owner’s chemical footprint. Convergence cotton fabrics are softer, more breathable, hypoallergenic, biodegradable and recyclable. And the fact is, that 17 teaspoons of chemicals end up in the soil for each high-street cotton tee.

“We hope to inspire customers to change their lives in a way which helps them to become integrated with nature as we were in the past, whether choosing ‘green’ fabrics or simply thinking about their environmental impact.”

Rapanui also pays a self-imposed ‘earth tax’. 5% of profits are donated to conservation charities such as the ‘trees for life’ project in the Caledonian forest, Scotland and the Marine Conservation Society.

Using the influential power of fashion to provoke change is a great thing. It’s also great when companies like Rapanui practice what they preach - heck, they even camels to transport their goods instead of trucks. Check out Rapanui.