An answer to a very good question about sustainability
Seeing as a couple of people have contacted us recently with a similar question, I thought it might be useful to turn my email response into a blog post.
That way, if the same question’s asked again, I can direct people here.
I hope you agree this is a helpful way to proceed, but please do feel free to get in touch anytime about anything sock related.
Before I begin, it’s also worth pointing out that the answer to the question is very much in the context of the Brighton Socks Company being a social/political experiment, as much as an environmental cause.
For more clarity on this you might like to read more about the 100% for the Planet! business model.
In giving away 100% of our profits, we're challenging the old style of Capitalism and helping to pave the way for a more ethical and more conscious way to do business.
So without further ado, this is the question people have been asking: where does your cotton come from?
And here is my current answer (verbatim from my email, and accurate at the time of writing, which is Tuesday 25th February 2025):
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Hi (name removed)
Thanks for getting in touch, we always appreciate being able to speak directly with people about Brighton Socks.
The cotton comes via our current manufacturer in Italy.
We're still searching for a suitable UK manufacturer, so that's a work in progress, but we felt Europe was a much better option than anywhere further afield.
As it was our very first batch of socks (the business only launched in October 2024), and probably due to a combination of inexperience and enthusiasm (i.e. impatience!), we allowed the manufacturer to source the yarn for us.
For sustainability reasons, we were certain we didn't want bamboo or anything man made.
And after taking into consideration a variety of factors, the high quality cotton and fine knit of the first ever Brighton Socks is what we ended up with.
However, one of the top priorities for the first quarter of 2025 is to make big strides in terms of improving the sustainability of the socks.
So please do watch this space, as we'll be making an announcement on that ASAP.
When we launched the business it was with a view to constantly reviewing our processes, and I'm happy to be able to reflect for a moment and feel confident that's exactly what we're doing.
Plus, we feel a huge amount of satisfaction in donating 100% of profits to Sussex Green Living.
This really does help to offset any thoughts we may have around knowing we can do better in terms of the yarn we used during the launch phase of the business.
We've been on a steep learning curve and now know an awful lot more about making socks than we did!
I know that was quite a long answer to your question, and I hope I've provided an adequate answer, but as you can hopefully tell, this is something we feel incredibly passionately about and love having the opportunity to discuss.
All the best
Amanda
100% for the Planet!