An ethical clothing company has unveiled a new range of clothing which aims to ‘put cool in ethicool’. The small Isle of Wight based brand have been trading for two years, concentrating on sustainable textiles and buying in clothes that matched a certain ethical ethos. Now they have established these connections the company has turned its attention to ‘making eco fashion cool’ with its new range and new website.
About Rapanui
Rapanui is about making cool eco-fashion for young people; that means clothing that is eco-friendly, ethical and sustainable: Made from natural organic fabrics in a Fairwear Foundation audited, wind powered factory. Through surfing the brothers saw and experienced the changing environment and climate at their local beach and as inspired, unemployed graduates in a recession, they took a different path; if you can’t find a job, make one.
Rapanui was set up by brothers Martin and Rob Drake-Knight in early 2008 with £200 of savings and was listed in the Top 100 Start-ups of 2008. Rob and Martin are listed on the Future 100 List of Top young Entrepreneurs and were recently finalists in Enterprise UK’s Young Brits awards. Rapanui was the youngest company to reach the finals of the Sustainable Business Awards in 2008 and has recently been nominated for the internationally-recognised ISPO Brand New Award.
Inspire
Before now the brand was essentially appealing to people who were already aware of the bad ethics that surround the fashion industry, with their cool new designs the brothers hope to captivate an audience of high-street fashion shoppers, who are perhaps less aware of where their clothes come from.
Martin explains – “It’s not that people don’t care, it’s just that they don’t know. If we can inform and educate people as to where clothing comes from and how it is made they can make informed decisions as shoppers.”
Rob continues: “We’re all young people at Rapanui and think it’s only right that people of our age can have access to high street style eco-fashion and in the process learn where their clothing comes from and how it is made.”
Cool website
Rapanui’s website also hosts a Wikipedia style resource packed with information about their supply chain, where consumers can find out where clothing comes from, how it is made and ask questions on anything – from planting the seed to stacking on the shelf.
Martin concludes “As a brand, if we can mix eco-fashion with trend to inspire people to think about the environment in their wider lifestyle, we will have done our job.”
Check it out at; www.rapanuiclothing.com and let them know what you think.