Considered Fashion
Sustainability
Delivering enduring, considered luxury products to our customers, is at the heart of what Sills + Co do. Making quality garments to be enjoyed well beyond a season is core to our business and the right choice for our planet. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure alignment with our values.
Environmental issues in the fashion industry are complicated and far reaching. At Sills + Co, we know we cannot change everything overnight, but our commitment is to continue to evolve responsibly towards becoming a fair, regenerative and sustainable business.
Evolving responsibility cornerstones are our company values, and outline our goals and achievements for a sustainable business. These are at the heart of every decision we make, and are under constant review, ensuring we are satisfying best practice.
These cornerstones are Materials, Quality, Social Responsibility, and Community.
Each fabric used in our collections is carefully considered and chosen to prioritise sustainability, responsibility, and longevity.
Cotton
The sustainably sourced cotton we use is sourced from farms that meet global standards of sustainability – helping cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
The organic cotton we use is certified organic at the textile stage. Organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, encourages rainwater irrigation, and helps to maintain biodiversity.
Viscose
We prefer to use sustainably sourced viscose made using wood pulp from forests that are traceable, certified and controlled meeting FSC® or PEFC standards. This means that pulp is not obtained from protected or endangered forests, and all forests are replanted after extraction. The two leading brands of viscose we use are LENZING™ and Södra.
Merino
Our Merino wool is fully traceable and sourced from growers who share our values of respect for land, people, and animals. nurturing the land through regenerative practices our wool is slow-crafted in balance with nature from field to stitch.
Cashmere
We choose to use cashmere that is certified by an independent standard for sustainable cashmere, that aims to improve the welfare of cashmere goats, the working conditions of herders and to protect the environment.
Sills + Co is proud to work with our makers of artisanal fine cashmere - a small family business in Kathmandu, Nepal.
“You help us provide sustainable livelihoods to our employees and their families, creating opportunities that uplift entire communities. Your support also directly impacts our mission to empower women, enabling them to gain financial independence and invest in the education and well-being of their children. Together, we are weaving stories of resilience, hope, and growth. Thank you for being an integral part of this journey.”
Recycled
We have reduced our dependency on virgin synthetic fibers and instead choose materials that are recycled.
Recycled fibres do not extract non-renewable resources, instead using materials that are already in circulation. They do not require virgin resource inputs and instead use what is already available and can reduce landfill waste.
If you would like to know more about any of the fabrics we use please feel free to contact us.
At Sills + Co we design each garment with care and consideration. We stay away from fast-paced ‘fashion’ trends, and create seasonless, quality, luxurious garments that will last. We use beautiful hand chosen fabrics and yarns, and work closely with our vendors to ensure uncompromised attention to detail and the highest standard of workmanship.
"Our mantra is less but better, buy something that lasts and get longevity from your fashion."
FOREVER IMPROVING
Designing timeless, quality pieces is our way to help move towards a circular economy, by helping keep garments in use for longer. We are constantly innovating and developing initiatives to help extend a garments life cycle, and hope to have new models in place by 2026.
PEOPLE + CODE OF CONDUCT
To ensure our overseas suppliers uphold our values and practices for human rights, all vendors are required to sign our Vendor Code of Conduct, and we are working to ensure compliance in every area is followed. This Code has been based on internationally agreed standards set out by the Ethical Trading Initiative , International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Global Compact. It outlines the minimum standards we expect of all our suppliers. We work closely with our suppliers to educate and mitigate any issues found in their businesses to ensure compliance with our policies.
TRANSPARENCY
We are working hard to knock down the opaque walls in our supply chain, ensuring every part of our garments journey is made responsibly. We started our traceability journey with our beautiful cashmere garments, mapping the journey of the cashmere fibers back to the farm in Inner Mongolia. All our Merino knitwear is now certified ZQ Merino. This transparency allows us to ensure responsible practices, and animal welfare is upheld.
CHARITY PARTNERSHIPS
We currently enjoy contributing to the following organisations:
LIFELINE
Since August 2020, we have been donating $5 from every sale of our face masks to Lifeline – who have been helping New Zealander’s who are in crisis for over 50 years.
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
We have been donating clothing to Dress for Success whose mission is: "To empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and development tools to help women to thrive in work and in life”.
AUCKLAND CITY MISSION
Sills + Co have been gifting much needed food and gifts for Auckland’s families in need. The Mission supplies people in need with food, clothing and support when they need it the most.