Discuss the wholesale blanks industry: Factory direct, custom labels. You can also use this forum to locate a wide variety of wholesale products including t-shirts, hoodies, mousepads, coffee mugs and other imprintable products.
I am really interested in introducing a range of organic tees into my product line. I'd like to also start using an ethical blank t-shirt supplier, does anyone have any suggestions (apart from American Apparel) of which suppliers to use?
I am canadian however there is no bias on my part. A canadian company called Gildan is actually "the" largest t-shirt producer in the world? I just heard it on a talk radio show the other day. FYI.
I can give you a help on this, I use Sol's for this purpose, they have a "Fair Trade" product and "Organic Cotton" product. I don't know if their web site can help you, take a look at solseurope.com
Quality is very good.
If you need some sdditional info, let me know.
I am really interested in introducing a range of organic tees into my product line. I'd like to also start using an ethical blank t-shirt supplier, does anyone have any suggestions (apart from American Apparel) of which suppliers to use?
American Apparel are one of the least ethical companies I'm aware of, short of Enron, Diebold, and Haliburton.
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Do you want something made in the USA? I buy Fair Trade t-shirts of organic cotton - there are quite a few of them. HaeNow, eConscious, Maggies Organics, SOS... If you look on the Green Pages of Co-Op America, you can find quite a few listings for "ethical" or Fair Trade kind of companies. Good luck!
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A canadian company called Gildan is actually "the" largest t-shirt producer in the world?
The largest, but not necessarily ethical. They definitely came under fire in years past, but those reports are now pretty out of date so a lot can change. They claim to practice fair conditions and labour, etc. but really it's hard to know. I'm certainly not saying they're not an ethical company, but in the sense of "look at us! we pay our workers above minimum wage! over here! made in America! sweatshop free! hip!" they're certainly not.
The other aspect is what kind of ethics are we talking. Normally it's thought of as labour, but if your focus is environmental ethics... well they make cotton t-shirts, and not even organic cotton at that, so no... they're not ethical. But then t-shirt selling isn't really particularly ethical either (a relatively disposable garment, made from an environmentally damaging plant, often printed and dyed using chemical processes that in turn use considerable amounts of water).
Unfortunately anyone who cares about the environment and wants to feel good about themselves is in the wrong business with this one.
If anybody has another ethical t-shirt suppliers to list, please feel free to list them here.
Thanks for all the posts and ideas guys.
I was actually looking for a supplier who is doing something different, i know there are a lot of "sweatshop free" suppliers out there but i really want to use a supplier who would give my private lable that extra something.
I also do think now is the time to be more socially responsible as more people are interested in where the t-shirts are made, who made them as well as buying them for a good cause etc.
Thanks for all the posts and ideas guys.
I was actually looking for a supplier who is doing something different, i know there are a lot of "sweatshop free" suppliers out there but i really want to use a supplier who would give my private lable that extra something.
I also do think now is the time to be more socially responsible as more people are interested in where the t-shirts are made, who made them as well as buying them for a good cause etc.
Hey..
I bought t-shirts from Edun Live. They are 100% African. The quality is very good plus the whole t-shirt process is carried out in Africa instead of different processes that are outsourced. So they are definitely different than other ethical companies. This sounds like something you might be interested in? Actually, I think they just launched their website (edun-live.com) so maybe check it out.
Ethical t-shirt Suppliers 
