Clothes, as the saying goes, “maketh the man”, but today the question being increasingly asked is, “who makes the clothes?”. Sustainability, ethics and animal welfare are hot topics in a high-turnover industry that changes with the seasons, and one company tackling these head-on are Portuguese independent label, wetheknot.
Founded ten years ago by fashion designer Sérgio Gameiro and graphic designer Filipe Cardigos, wetheknot is a brand dedicated to meeting the needs of contemporary everyday life, while adhering to a strict set of sustainable ethics.
Its first piece, the vegan leather pouch, immediately set out their stall and founded the reputation on which they are now built. “We choose not to use real leather because we care about animal welfare,” explains Sérgio. “At the beginning our focus was mainly on accessories: pouches, pencil cases and roll-top backpacks in vegan leather, all with a minimal design and in a very resistant material. This allowed them to stand up both to frequent everyday use and seasonal trends, and which gave them the distinctive feature for which wetheknot got to be known internationally.
Wetheknot’s latest offering is their limited edition collection, What Day Is It Today?, featuring organic cotton t-shirts and sweatshirts in different cuts, workwear-inspired denim jackets, drawstring shorts and a casual fit shirt. New bags in cotton have been added to the range of accessories, plus six-panel and five-panel caps.
“Basically, we want to inspire people to live with few timeless pieces that are made to last, therefore going against current fast fashion systems and excessive consumption,” says Sergio. “Our creative and design team is very small, until last year it was just me and Filipe, now we are 4 people in total, and we share most of the tasks and decisions behind both product development and communication.
And the answer to that number one question for today’s purchases: who makes the clothes? “Our products are all made here in Portugal, some in the very studio where we work in Lisbon, others up in the North. Our aim is to involve into production small family-run businesses as much as possible, especially because Portugal has a long tradition in clothing manufacturing and we feel inspired by our partners’ expertise and know-how.
“We usually start to design a new item when we notice that we can not find it on the market in the way we would like it — maybe because the fit does not suit us at all, or because the way it is produced is not ethical. We never launch a new product just for the sake of having a larger collection or to present something new every season.”
Find them here: www.wetheknot.com
