Organic cotton: Chetna, India (Regenerative Organic Certified®)

Shirt: Cut and sewn in India by Dibella Ltd (GOTS, SA8000 certified factory)

Dibella’s mission is to improve the livelihoods of small-scale, marginalised cotton farmers and textile workers. The factory is GOTS, Fairtrade and BSCI compliant. Dibella employs 420 workers, 97% of whom are women.

The organic cotton is fairly traded and sourced from Chetna Organic who work with marginalised farmers from Maharashtra, Odessa and Andhra Pradesh towards improving their livelihoods and making farming a sustainable occupation.

Dibella runs a number of social projects called ‘sustainable development pillars’, these have a particular focus on women and children. The first pillar invests in education; providing equipment and resources to local schools. The second focuses on hygiene; by providing medical care, check ups and training on personal hygiene, particularly for women. This pillar is very important to Dibella and hygiene procedures have been upgraded due to Covid-19. The third pillar gives training in sustainable farming techniques and the fourth focuses on female empowerment. This is done through providing additional training opportunities to the women who work in the factory. 

Regenerative Organic Certified® is a revolutionary certification that sets the global benchmark for soil health, farmworker fairness, and animal welfare, ensuring the highest standards.

Regenerative organic farming uses cover crops, composting, crop rotation, and diverse planting to improve soil, biodiversity, and yields. It enhances food security, conserves water, and increases carbon storage. It also stops the spread of desertification and helps prevent deforestation, which are major threats to the climate.

Knowledge Cotton Apparel's second and third tier suppliers (fabrics and raw materials) are based in the same geographical region as products are cut and sewn. This reduces the carbon footprint of their products compared to other fashion supply chains where it is common for inputs to cross back and forth around the world. 

GOTS living wage policy currently only requires that national legal standards are met. We’d love to see KCA collaborate with an organisation like the Fair Wear Foundation to advance the complex topic of a real living wage for garment workers.