Quail has scoured the UK and the rest of the globe for organic and ethical fabrics. The fabrics may also have a cultural benefit to those who produce them, such as Ghanaian and Indonesian batiks, where skills handed down for generations are in danger of dying out. Cotton and linen as fabrics have a romantic, clean and healthy image, but commercial cotton production is quite a nasty affair on both the environment and the people that harvest it. The following fabrics and haberdashery make up Quail’s current palette.
Quail has sourced fairtrade organic cotton from India. The cotton is grown from non-GM seed in the north of the country and certified organic by the Dutch inspection body, Skal, (similar to the UK's Soil Association). The spun cotton is handloomed by a workforce of 300 weavers in the rural district of KV Kuppam in southern India. As such, the cotton occasionally has small imperfections, but these add to its character. The cotton also carries the UK Fairtrade label. We think this cotton makes great shirts and dresses.
All fabrics are dyed using non-Azo dyes and only rice water starch is applied to assist the weavers in controlling the warp threads as they stretch them out in the streets of the weavers' quarter in KV Kuppam. All employees are paid above the average wage, but more importantly they are provided with full-time, secure employment throughout the year. As an association, the members of this community benefit from a pension, sickness plan and access to health care. The resourceful men and women of KV Kuppam also silkscreened the fabric to Quail's own paisley and polka dot designs.
Shweshwe is the ethnic-print cotton cloth synonymous with traditional black South African dress. Sourced directly from the sole manufacturer of authentic shweshwe in the Eastern Cape is not just a fabric but a national heritage item; so-named because of the ‘swish-swish’ of the fabric as it is worn in traditional dress. Nelson Mandela is rarely seen without his famous shweshwe shirt. At present, we have four shweshwe shirt styles for sale.
Entirely produced in South Africa, authentic shweshwe will always bear the 3 Leopards or 3 Cats logo. The company, which produces the fabric, is 45% owned by the workers themselves, thus empowering the local workforce with a sustainable future. Traditional and fairly-traded, shweshwe fits well with Quail's ethical fashion values.
Near to home, we are excited to be using award-winning organic handloomed tweed from the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. Certified organic by the Soil Assocuation, the Ardalanish Isle of Mull Weavers have created a unique and sustainable tweed product by returning to age-old craftmanship and traditions.
With looms dating from the 1920s and 1950s, the Isle of Mull Weavers use un-dyed wool from native Hebridean and Shetland sheep. Hebridean sheep, adapted to the harsh environment, almost disappeared a century ago, but now the organic Ardalanish flock is one of the largest in the country. The intention of Ardalanish is to encourage like-minded farmers to convert to sustainable organic production. The farming practices at Ardalanish encourage a healthy eco-system for flora and fauna.
Ahimsa silk, otherwise known as ‘peace silk’, is where the worms are allowed to emerge naturally, before their cocoons are processed. As such, the silk is often more luxurious than typical commercial silk. The Ahimsa silk Quail uses is incredibly soft with a subtle sheen and is handloomed in India.
Quail also recognises the cultural significance of traditional exotic fabrics. At Quail we admire the story that certain cultures display in their fabric designs. Using batik is about recycling interesting fabric and maintaining traditional skills. The West has been known to reproduce batik designs, which is why Quail only buys from genuine batik suppliers.
We've created a unique range of shirts using modern or antique batiks for detailing. The antique batiks date back as far as the 1960s and derive from secondhand sarongs, made at the time when vegetable dyes were commonly used. The antique batik we’ve sourced comes from Solo and Yogyakarta in central Java. They are made up of rich creams and warms browns and juxtaposed with tinges of yellowish gold on 100% cotton. These antique batiks signal the change between a rural tradition moving towards modern automated machinery. We are also a fan of modern batiks from Pekalongan in the north of Java where traditional colourful floral and bird motifs are used.
We support producers of sustainable fabric alternatives such as quality hemp and bamboo, or even fabric made from a type of stinging nettle! Green fabrics are often produced in small, traditional farmsteads in emerging markets—and, it seems, perhaps even in the UK it is catching on.
Hemp is a fast growing and renewable crop that is resilient enough to only be tasty to a handful of pests so even if not grown organically, hemp can still be considered a very 'green' alternative to cotton. The days of scratchy and primitive hemp clothing are long gone!
Quail hopes to be using bamboo in the near future. We all know as children how fast bamboo grows in a day so we are excited to learn more about this sustainable fabric.
Who would have thought the dreaded stinging nettle could be made into fabric. But it can! It was used thousands of years ago as a textile and even German soldiers wore it in battle during WWI. Quail uses nettle mix fabric for the pockets in our Tulip and Panel organic denim skirts currently for sale.
Even the small things Quail uses, such as buttons, will be made from natural material such as shell, coconut, wood, tagua nut and genuine horn.