Our new knitwear supplier is nestled in a quiet, alpine region of Bulgaria and is very much at the heart of the community there. Historically, the factory was built in 1969 when Bulgaria was a Communist state and was a means to employ the female workforce whilst the men predominantly worked in mining.

Fast forward to 1996 and dramatic political changes in Europe allowed Sergey Chaushev to take over the running of the factory, alongside his family. It became a joint stock company with the participation of the workforce. They focussed on building a business which offered stability, income and support to the community. Today, many of the workers have been employed there for over forty years, and the ethical and environmental credentials of this business are apparent in the community spirit of the factory, the continual investment in its future and the development of its own sustainable energy supply, a solar plant. 

High on our list of priorities and theirs is the desire to achieve traceability of products and materials used and they have invested in supporting the use of sustainable and recycled materials. We feel our knitwear production will be in safe hands with this new supplier, and we are very excited to see how this relationship takes shape in the years to come.