Shirt cut and sew: Fontoli, Portugal

Organic cotton fabric: Sedatex, Spain

Fontoli is a family owned factory that has been operating since 1988 and has been working with Brava since 2018. The factory is well known for its production of shirts and Brava have shared that they provide a good, healthy and safe working environment. Fontoli state that their ethos is based on team spirit, responsibility and valuing employees. They have a code of conduct that prohibits exploitation and prejudice, and values workers rights.

Brava has an employee based in Portugal who checks all their Portuguese factories, in addition to this Brava visit every season.

Brava has drawn up a code of conduct based on the labour principles set out by WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production). Brava sends this document to all their cut and sew factories to sign and follow it. This code covers matters of fair wages, chosen, adult labour, a safe working environment, the freedom to unions and collective bargaining, reasonable working hours, no discrimination, harassment or abuse, environmentally conscious practises, adherence to national laws and custom laws.

The Fair Wear Foundation considers Portugal a low risk country for the production of clothes, meaning that Fair Wear deems there to be functioning institutions and legislation that protect workers rights. Portugal's main labour law is relatively strict in comparison to other garment producing countries and there is a system to lodge complaints.

Organic cotton helps farmers escape the health risks and financial burden of toxic chemicals involved in conventional cotton production. It also helps wider communities by maintaining (rather than draining) the local water supply and keeping it clean.

All of Brava's cut and sew and fabric processing factories are based in Europe, they are obligated to follow the EU laws on chemical and colour handling and methods, and the discarding of chemicals and dyes.

Brava’s partner factories in Spain and Portugal subcontract work on rare occasions when capacity is full. This subcontracting must be approved by Brava product managers and a product manager will visit the subcontracted factory to confirm the factory and working conditions meet Brava’s standard. We'd like to see Brava develop a system for sharing accredited subcontractors with interested parties.