Against All Odds Pt. 3 – The Details

Chapter 3: One Thread to Rule Them All 

Plastic-free means 0% plastic. To be true to this claim, it is not enough to find natural fabrics, all the components of a garment must be plastic-free. Before you start the process, it is hard to realise how ubiquitous plastic is. Our biggest disappointment came when looking for plastic-free zips. While there were plenty of metal teeth, cotton tape simply didn't exist. On this day, they all contain plastic in the form of polyester or in a blend called polycotton. Our suppliers were adamant, our custom-made cotton zips were financially absurd. We had to gamble on our greatest asset, enthusiasm. It took time, but they were eventually convinced by our project and the prospects that going plastic-free could open up for the future. It was a significant step, we had suppliers on board and we had secured a rare resource. 

Sourcing the labels is another challenge. Industrial prints are often made from plastic derivatives that contain the same harmful chemicals. While It is still possible to find safe prints, embroidery is on another level.

Once again, it was impossible to find anything other than polyamide. We resumed our search and found a small company in Italy that had kept cotton embroidery alive. 

We often joke that the embroidered tag is the only proof of authenticity needed to identify a true Mover garment. If you look closely, you will certainly see (and perhaps be disturbed by) a small loose black thread. This is because cotton, unlike polyamide, cannot be sealed. And no counterfeiters are willing to go as far as to trace these little cotton tags. 

The smell after a long day's work is well enough to authenticate whether synthetics are present in the garment. 

Only details can hint at the scale of our idea. More than the zips and the embroidery, our commitment was trialled down to the most humble element. It took us several years of never-ending negotiations and obsessive research to find the fabrics and the accessories, and still, it wasn’t enough. When it comes to plastic, we thought we had heard and seen it all. But the worst was yet to come: Our manufacturers couldn't sew with cotton thread. Polyester was the only way they would carry out the task. And if we accepted we would sacrifice our right to the 100% label. This grim observation didn’t deter us from the least, but rather the opposite. We had a chance to become legitimate. As absolute plastic opponents, it was our duty to step forward when true difficulties would arise.

Problem-solving is often a matter of perspective, where context is even more important than the object generating the disturbance. And our answer came in the form of a needle hole. Indeed, there was not a single sewing machine that used needles designed for cotton. Over the decades, the habit of sewing with cotton had disappeared under the convenience of synthetic thread. By persuading our manufacturers to revive it, we had achieved the unimaginable: a garment made entirely of cotton that would perform better outdoors than a synthetic one.

And just like that, the first collection to be 100% plastic free was born.

Mover ain’t much (because it’s minimal) but it’s honest work.