Warm Bodies, Cool Oceans
With it recently being reported that Europe is heating up at double the speed of much of the rest of the planet, there is a sense that chilly autumns and freezing winters are resigned to memory. However, climate change is not as predictable as you might think.
Weather extremes are part and parcel of life on a planet reeling from the constant rise in carbon emissions. Indeed, there is evidence that global warming could be to blame for recent cold snaps that have wreaked havoc in North America. With this in mind, people need sustainable wardrobes that are ready for any weather extreme, be it wet, arid, hot, cold or blustery.
With the European autumn in full swing and winter about to bite, we thought we’d give a rundown of the warmest sustainable fabrics that we currently feature in our eco-clothing range, so you can wrap up warm, while helping to cool our planet.
Organic Corduroy + Recycled Padding & Sherpa Lining
Spend any time perusing our sustainable autumn/winter collections and you will quickly notice that corduroy and micro corduroy fabric is ever present. This is with good reason, because cord ribs provide remarkable warmth that’s exaggerated by a softness which is difficult for other fabrics to match. Cords also suit styles and looks that interchange between casual and formal, meaning we feature it on everything from trousers to jackets to skirts to shirts.
Unfortunately, not all cords are created equal when it comes to sustainability. Standard cotton is highly water and carbon intensive to farm. That’s why TWOTHIRDS try to only use corduroy derived from organic or recycled cotton.
Organic cotton is farmed ethically, using best environmental practices, to reduce water usage and carbon emissions wherever possible.
Other recycled materials are also used to add finesse and comfort to corduroy pieces. 100% recycled polyester sherpa linings feature on women’s jackets like the Daphne, Ekins and Navity. These linings usually come in a beautiful cream colour, are GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified, and add weight and warmth to every garment they appear on.
Another nice sustainable touch that our designers lend to some of our organic corduroy jackets is 100% recycled polyester padding. This additional layer adds an extra 110grs of insulation to any garment. Also GOTS certified, it locks body warmth in, to keep wearers of women’s jackets, like the Viwa, nice and cosy.
Want to deep dive further into the pros and cons of organic corduroy? We’ve just the blog post for you.
Manteco: Wool/Recycled Polyamide Blend
Top quality virgin wool is blended with recycled polyamide, to give this Italian-made fabric the highest possible GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certification. This is borne out in the sleek looking coats and jackets it graces, such as women’s pieces like the Selaru, Gull and Heiwa.
Recycled polyamide constitutes 25% of the fabric’s makeup, helping extract waste plastic from the environment, while simultaneously providing additional structure and durability to its 540grs virgin wool.
Recycled Wool
All of our virgin wool is mulesing-free, meaning it’s sheared from happy sheep. However, an increasing amount of the wool we work with is recycled, so that we reuse fabric that’s already out there in the world, rather than calling on our fluffy friends to produce more.
Recycled wool yarn tends to be blended with other recycled materials, so as to add flexibility and durability to the recycled wool’s signature warmth. This is evident in many of our new knits, which include the Olib, Kalymnos and Camia cardigan.
It’s not just women who we provide a huge range of recycled wool garments for, with men also being able to choose from pieces like the delightful cross knit Langli and the classic S´Alqueria cable knit, to name but a couple.
Even our sustainable clothing accessories get in on the recycled wool act, with unisex socks such as the Grindall and the women’s Cribinau beanie both sporting high percentages of this eco-friendly material.
Recycled Polyester (TWOTHIRDS RE-TECH)
When the wind howls and the rain pours, it’s best to try and stay indoors, but for those who love the great outdoors – and for whom braving the elements is an accepted part of everyday life – they require clothing that can stand up to what nature throws at them.
Recycled polyester has become one of the go-to sustainable fabrics for crafting sturdy and water repellent clothing. It is the backbone for many of our winter-proof jackets, due to it being strong, wrinkle resistant and quick drying. Its production also produces 75% less carbon emissions than that of virgin polyester.
It’s hard to believe that such a versatile fabric is partly made out of waste plastic bottles, which could otherwise be out there clogging up the oceans and ruining surf beaches.
Spotting a recycled polyester jacket from our range is easy, because more often than not it will have the “TWOTHIRDS RE-TECH” label attached. Some examples include the men’s Mokongai jacket and the women’s Hirado jacket, both of which are capable of cocooning you during even the fiercest of storms.
