Blythe Short - Seaweed, Coral

Shorts cut and sewn: Portugal
(EU legislation) 

Recycle Polyester Yarn (RePET®): Libolon
(Bluesign, GRS, OEKO-TEX, Local Green Mark)

Digital printing: RA Smart, Macclesfield, UK

Riz have longterm relationships with their factory in Portugal and digital printers in the UK. To their knowledge workers are treated well and remunerated fairly. It has not been feasible to carry out their own assessment of their fabric supplier so they rely on their reputation and independent certifications.

The shorts are cut and sewn in Portugal, in a small, family run factory who have a longstanding reputation in the Portuguese garment industry. The Fair Wear Foundation considers Portugal a low risk country with properly functioning institutions (trade unions, labour legislation, labour inspection) which should lead to compliance with basic standards. However the 2008 economic crisis has put pressure on the industry and FWF recommends performing regular visits to suppliers to ensure that international standards and labour laws are respected. Riz visit Sergil occasionally and plan to visit again this year.

These shorts are made from recycled PET bottles. Using recycled polyester is said to reduce carbon emission by 37% when compared to the use of virgin polyester.

We need to phase out our use of oil based synthetic plastics but in the meantime PET polyester provides provides a strategy to keep plastics bottles from landfill or worse still our oceans.

Riz design philosophy is to remove unnecessary elements; letting form follow function. During the design process they aim to get as close to 100% recycled components as possible and also ensure items can be recycled at the end of their life.