International Women’s Day 2024
A spotlight on female artists that we stock at LAMP in celebration of International Women’s Day.
SUPPLIERS STORIES
Felt So Good
Fairtrade felt and sustainable sources are at the heart of Felt So Good
The Story of Felt So Good
Felt so good was born in 2009, when founder Adele Zara Collinson was working in Asia and came upon the vibrancy and potential of using felt as a sustainable, eco-friendly material. With her design degree and an overwhelming urge to bring handmade beautiful products to the masses, her search for an ethical cottage industry began,
Adele visited factories large and small throughout India to ensure that the location was safe, ethical and had minimal carbon footprint. She finally found the perfect relationship with a small cottage industry in Nepal creating products from wool.Â
Once returning to the UK she started selling at craft markets and shops and throughout the years has expanded her business. Felt So Good has continued to grow and so has their team in Nepal. They now employ over 250 talented people enabling local people in the area to be taught a new skill and have secure employment that isn’t always offered in the remote area. Adele travels to Nepal three times a year to take out new designs and work directly with the team and to ensure that the values and ethics of Felt So Good are being upheld and strengthened.Â
“The underlying ethos behind Felt so good has always been to produce high quality, ethically produced, sustainable products that don’t compromise on design, all whilst showcasing the techniques and skills of our team.”
Fairtraide
Implementing and promoting the importance of Fair trade is at the heart of Felt So Good’s ethics. Every product purchased supports their team of skilled artisans in Nepal, enabling them to live independently with access to safe, discrimination free work with a fair rate of pay.Â
Transparency is key to their relationship with all their production and management teams as well as their international commercial and retail outlets. They are audited regularly to achieved an impressively high standard of working conditions and employment benefits. They are proud members of The World Fair Trade Organisation, Sedex and The British Association of Fair Trade Shops & Suppliers
“We don’t want to just create sustainable products, but sustainable employment too. We’ve have worked hard over the years to not only build strong working relationships but strong friendships too.”
Social Impact
Payment of a fair price is extremely important to Felt So Good. Their producers are paid well above the national average wage of Nepal and above the standard for fair trade wages. They pride themselves on not discriminating based on gender, with wages being equal for men and women throughout the workplace. Prices are worked out using the weight of materials as well as the time and skill involved in each piece. These prices are then mutually agreed and reassessed on an annual basis to maintain a fair and responsible pricing structure.
Prior to employment they require identification cards to ensure they are above the age of 18. They keep a record of each employee’s hours, including the hours of homeworkers. These are shown to auditors and to check that each member of staff works no more than 45 hours per week. The staff are audited periodically, and this enables them to discuss in confidence any issues or questions regarding their wages, hours, health and safety & wellbeing within the workplace.Â
Felt So Good ensuring good working conditions for all employees. Their products are made in a cottage industry in the beautiful Himalayas. The environment is light and clean and there is no machinery used within the manufacturing of these products. They have small teams of needle felters, wet felters and embroiderers, all specialists within their trade. They ensure their staff are happy in their environment and each group has a supervisor that quality checks each item and helps with ongoing training requirements.
They provide training to all new and current employees in specific areas of expertise to help them improve their skills. Every member has a chance to grow within the organisation and in turn help and support other members within their team.
Respect for the Environment
This was one of the main reasons Felt so good was born. They don’t use machinery for the manufacture of their wonderful creations, these are all made by hand. Their staff are employed from the immediate area; therefore, no transport is used. The dying process involves taking the carded bundles of fluffy wool fibres and putting them in specialist containers that allow steam and the colour pigment to work together to dye the natural wool any colour possible. The steam used in the process is produced from burning rice husk and the water used is purified onsite in an ecologically mindful manner. The dyes used are all ‘azo free’ and the factory is completely pollution free which is, of course, very rare. After the husks are burnt, they are even used to fertilise the local farm lands. The felt is then dried using only natural light, with no machinery is required in the process.
“We are passionate about creating high quality, long-lasting products that don’t compromise on design and showcase the beauty of natural materials.”
Their top-quality sheep’s wool is sourced from New Zealand, a completely natural by-product which is processed to the highest environmental standards and always cruelty free. In 2020, all plastic buttons, plastic beading and embellishments were removed from their products and replaced with wooden/biodegradable/ natural alternatives. They also changed their labelling, replacing the plastic Kimble with natural string and opting for a natural paper label.
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