Melodie Bright

As I mentioned before, I worked for Merchant & Mills, and so there I learned a lot about fabrics because their main thing is about sourcing fabrics that are sustainable. I think there’s only like two or three fabrics they have now and they’re not as ethical as they want it to be, but I think that’s so amazing they’ve got that much as sustainable already, so compared to most fabric stores. So, the linen that I use – the mill – it runs off renewable energy. And it’s also OEKO-TEX® certified, which means it’s just a high certification for ethical standards and those standards are in place, so customers are confident that they’re buying something that’s ethically produced and also good for the environment as well, not as bad, not as impacting. Growing linen actually has a positive impact on the environment because it retains so much CO2. So, learning about that, it’s just been really interesting, because even at university, I studied fashion design, and they didn’t teach us anything like that. I also use oilskins. But I’m like 100 per cent confident all the mills that they use are really, really good, and I think you do need that trust because I don’t want to say to my customers, I don’t want to greenwash them. And a lot of brands, their fabrics aren’t actually as ethical as they make it out to be. But yeah, I’m 100 per cent sure and confident that Merchant & Mills fabrics are, so I use them. But in the long term, I’d really like to source my own fabrics and visit the mills and try and come up with my own weaves and designs and work with the manufacturer in person.