Ethical manufacturing – Our makers

Location: Shantou, Dongguan, China
Established: 1994

Yufeng produced the entire product range of our first Underwear for Humanity collection.

Creating a sustainable range takes genuine partnership and openness from your suppliers. In a murky and non-transparent industry such as fashion, trust is everything. Yufeng is always looking to try new ideas in sustainable production and increase transparency in the supply chain. Not only do they have the skills to make more complex bras and underwear, but they are experienced working with Tencel and can finish products beautifully. The factory has a well-established anti-discrimination policy with clear accessible communication channels and safe working conditions.

This factory is owned by Chuang Jian, who started on the factory floor 20 years ago. Chuang Jian knows every function from sewing, cutting, and machine repairing, to the ins and outs of the design and production process. We know that we can discuss technical finer details with him, and he gets it. His wife, Yingyu Huang, is the mother to 7 children and Vice-President of the business. Together they are excited to be a part of our project – and in a country where the focus is mass-production, that takes special people. During his spare time, Chuang Jian volunteers as the Chairman of their local Lion’s Club assisting local people in need.

Min Zhang, Jing Hua Lin and Hua Lin are the talented makers that sew our range. Base salary and bonuses bring them to 60% over the living wage.

Location: Xiamen, Fujian, China
Established: 2004

Our second manufacturing factory, Fuxing, produces the underwear that is donated 1:1 with every pair sold. We know Fuxing very well, having worked with them on other projects for almost 10 years. We have a close relationship with the owner, Andy, who has been able to create products utilising their ‘deadstock’ materials (fabrics and elastics that are collected from cancelled orders, leftovers or over-orders). This has been able to divert previously lost materials from going to landfill, utilising them to create new garments.

Andy has a lot of experience working with sustainable products. He has been using BCI or organic cotton and Oeko-tex certified dye houses for years, meaning all of our donated underwear can be assuredly toxin-free.

Xiamen (in the Fujian province) is a popular Chinese tourist destination with mountains and ancient temples. One of Andy’s favourite pass times is mountain climbing with his wife and two daughters.

Whilst we make all of our underwear ethically in China, producing locally would be our ideal. It is difficult with the current infrastructure available in Australia. In the clothing industry almost all sourcing is done offshore, and materials and elastics are nearly all imported. Options for local manufacturing are very limited and underwear is a difficult product to sew and price sensitive.

Retail price is an important factor for most people, if we produced locally our retail prices would be much higher, which means most people would not have access, our sales would be lower and therefore our impact. If we source offshore we can cover the costs for our social and environmental programs and still have a reasonable retail price. It is an ongoing balancing act.

This doesn’t mean we have given up on producing in Australia, we continually investigate ways to use sewing as training and hope that in the future local manufacturing can be a reality.