PRODUCT
PRODUCT
We champion quality and durability; no stock to landfill.
We never make products specifically for discount or sale promotions. If our stock sells differently than expected, we engage in sales or other responsible solutions to ensure all our products make it to a loving home (aka not landfill!).
We recognise that sustainability is intertwined with the privilege of choice. We participate in sales because they break those barriers, enabling more people to shop for TALA. Not to mention (we know you're thinking it), we're also a business, and we have to remain profitable to challenge business as usual for the fashion industry.
Our Factories.
When choosing where we make our collections, we look at several factors - materials, price, labour practices, and the environmental work of the factories. We recognise our responsibility to the people involved in the production of our garments, including those we both directly and indirectly employ. We have developed trusted relationships with key suppliers and now work with them regularly, which is our way of better supporting their workforce through a predictable flow of orders.
Vietnam
Partnership Purpose: Partnership Purpose: We wanted to find the perfect partner for outerwear collections and TALA Swim. We found an industry-leading outerwear manufacturer with supply chain transparency and the ability to create recycled garments that deliver style and functionality.
First worked with TALA: October 2021
Turkey
Partnership Purpose: Our suppliers in Turkey manufacture some of our sweats and activewear products, including our Sculpt Seamless Collection. They are in the process of utilising the latest technology to open a 'green' factory, a signal to our shared values, powered by solar panels. The factory we work with is at the forefront of innovation and research, having partnered with a leading UK university to research how materials can absorb microplastics. Our Sculpt Seamless is created in a tube, where fabric is utilised fully, limiting production waste.
First worked with TALA: 2020
China
Partnership Purpose: Our China supplier is based near Shanghai. Our supplier is audited by accredited third parties to ensure legislative compliance and globally recognised social and environmental standards are met. We have a strong relationship with this factory. There are widespread biases when it comes to Chinese production, so we find it incredibly important to be transparent about our own experience.
The geographical location of your factory isn't a confirmation of everything being OK (e.g., manufacturing in the UK doesn't mean acceptable working conditions, and manufacturing in China doesn't mean poor working conditions). So instead, we use legitimate third-party accreditation and every supplier - regardless of geographical location - adheres to our Code of Conduct to ensure human rights are upheld to standards set by the UN agency, the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Every collection we create is only sent to production once the accreditations of the factories are confirmed, and we work hard to get to know our manufacturing partners and the impact they make on their workers and communities.
First worked with TALA: 2021
China (for Accessories)
Partnership Purpose:
At TALA, we are proud to work with a leading supplier for our accessories collection. They tick every box required under the TALA Supplier Code of Conduct, informed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and aligned with industry best practices, such as the Ethical Trade Initiative Base Code. With over 25 years of experience in manufacturing, they work with the top sustainable brands - and have built from these core values since the start. With a UK-based design headquarters and a quality team based in China, every factory is regularly audited to meet international standards.
First worked with TALA: 2023
Our Fabrics
Made with recycled and naturally sourced materials.
The clothing industry's CO2 emissions are expected to rise to nearly 2.8 billion tonnes annually by 2030. These are equivalent to emissions produced by almost 230 million passenger vehicles driven for a year, assuming average driving patterns (Global Fashion Agenda and Boston Consulting Group, 2017).
Multi-functional, made to last, and oh so flattering….
Multi-functional, made to last, and oh so flattering….
We consider the entire lifecycle of items when conceptualising new products, which is why our products always contain recycled content or naturally sourced materials. That means utilising recycled nylon (Hello Skinluxe 76% recycled!) or creating the perfect wardrobe staple or Tencel Modal Fabric, sourced from the pulp of beech trees in responsibly managed forests (we're looking at you 365).
Whilst we'd love to use all-natural fibres, we believe in creating excellent quality activewear that lasts and has to perform, or you'll go back to less responsible alternatives. We love Modal in our 365 collection, but that wouldn't make sense in a performance legging - so we turn to recycled fibres.
We use recycled materials because it makes no sense that materials would go to landfill or to our oceans when we could incorporate them into your favourite leggings. Utilising existing materials means they have already been through the initial production process, reducing the environmental impact of creating products made entirely from virgin materials.
Some quick definitions:
Post-consumer recycled materials: a product or fibre which would be disposed of as solid waste, having reached the end of the product life cycle. For example, plastic bottles collected as part of a recycling program are melted down and made into new clothing fibres, often used to create recycled post-consumer polyester. We use post-consumer recycled materials in our Sculpt Seamless collection.
Pre-consumer recycled material: a fibre or by-product generated after the manufacture of a product is completed but before the product reaches the end-use consumer. At TALA, this often means using factory offcuts, which would otherwise end up as waste or in landfill, to create new products. We use pre-consumer recycled materials in our DayFlex, SkinLuxe and FormTech collections (among others!).
Each fabric behaves differently when recycled, so exact impact statistics are an industry challenge for traceability and data gathering.
Recycled Polyester
We use polyester in collections like FormTech because it is flexible, sweat-wicking, strong, and durable.
By working with the recycled alternative to polyester, we can sidestep the oil extraction required to make conventional, virgin polyester. Recycled polyester often comes from post-consumer plastic waste, such as plastic bottles, packaging, or other textile pre-consumer waste as its raw material. This is then spun into yarn to create a durable fabric for items that don't need to be washed regularly, like our SZN Outerwear.
We know that polyester takes hundreds of years to decompose and can lead to microfibres escaping the environment.
By working with recycled polyester, we can create a product that lasts at a more accessible price point to introduce more recycled alternatives to the market.
Certified Recycled: Global Recycled Standard.
Recycled nylon
We use Recycled nylon in collections like SkinLuxe and Dayflex because of its elasticity, strength, and sweat-wicking properties. Recycled nylon doesn't lose shape as quickly as other fibres, so it's an excellent choice for our activewear collections, ready for the perfect stretch. We know recycled materials are not the ultimate solution, and recycled nylon is still plastic-based (synthetic), which means it does release microplastics during the wash phase.
Certified Recycled: Global Recycled Standard.
Tencel Modal
The softness of TENCEL™ Modal fibres lasts longer and can withstand repeated wash and dry cycles compared to cotton, according to Tencel. It's twice the softness of cotton (even after washing) - what's not to love?
Certified material: TENCEL™ Modal fibres are certified with the internationally recognised EU Ecolabel, an environmental quality label only awarded to products and services with a significantly lower environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle.
Organic Cotton
Conventionally grown cotton is a water and chemical-intensive process. Unsurprisingly, conventional cotton no longer fits the bill. Growing it is chemical-intensive, impacting local biodiversity and, therefore, the community of those in traditional cotton growing areas.
By working with certified organic cotton, such as for our sweats, we can create a product with zero harmful chemicals in the cotton growing process and is softer and longer lasting than the conventional alternative. This also means cotton is naturally biodegradable in the right compost conditions. It can decompose and revert right back to nature.
Certified Organic: GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
Viscose by LENZING™ ECOVERO™
Biobased: LENZING™ Modal fibres are mainly manufactured from beech wood — a natural and renewable raw material - sourced from sustainably grown forests in Austria and neighbouring countries, as certified by USDA Certified Biobased Product.
Viscose is a semi-synthetic fibre made from trees and the third most commonly used textile in the world! More than 150 million trees are logged each year to turn into cellulosic fabric, so we only use the sustainably sourced wood pulp used for our Airlayer Top.
Certified: EU Ecolabel, an environmental quality label only awarded to products and services with a significantly lower environmental impact throughout their entire lifecycle.
We use virgin materials too.
In our products, we use blends of recycled or naturally sourced materials, including lycra and elastane. This is due to the nature of our business - we make activewear that requires lightweight and stretchable materials. Considering this, we are proud to have strong connections with supplier partners at the forefront of innovations; we are always looking for new materials to push industry barriers.
Still got questions? Check out our FAQs below
PURPOSE. PEOPLE. PRODUCT.
At TALA, we prioritise consistent progress over perfection. Being more sustainable is a journey; we always aim to be transparent and honest with our TALA community. To make a difference to the planet, we firmly believe that we don't need one person doing sustainability perfectly; we need many, many people doing it imperfectly, and thus, we must provide solutions to do so. We are excited to share our progress with you. Like anyone, we're not always going to get it right, but we're fed up with the industry not even trying to do better.