Sustainability

For The Night Store, sustainability is a progressive journey, not an end
destination. It is about making choices and demonstrating we can do better as
an industry.

The notion of sustainability in fashion sparks complex debate enmeshed with systemic issues around privilege, consumerism, and capitalism. Sustainability is nuanced and should be viewed as a fluid concept rather than one with black-
and-white answers. That's why we limit the use of this word - whenever we can, we try to be more specific about our actions instead of merely saying we're
sustainable.

 

Supply Chain

Our talented product design team and trusted suppliers work together to create versatile pieces that are made to last. We pride ourselves on creating size inclusive styles that are thought-out investments to wear, season after season. This ethos informs all our design and product development, and the attention to detail lavished on our product is what makes it recognisably The Night Store. We specialise in a small number of fabrics, which affords us greater control over where they are coming from and how they are made.

We work to the world’s leading textile processing standard for organic fibres. GOTS- certified organic cotton fibres which have been processed, manufactured and labelled in a way that aligns with the strict ecological and social guidelines set by the Global Organic Textile Standard, the world’s leading textile processing standard for organic fibres. The standard certifies that over 70% of a garment is organic cotton and ensures workers’ rights are protected, conditions are safe, wastewater is monitored and dyes are low-impact. All our suppliers hold an OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification, which confirms that every component of a garment – from its threads to its buttons – has been tested for harmful substances. Our suppliers maintain standards factories; certification ensuring ethical, health and safety compliance. We as for the following certificates:

1. Smeta / SEDEX certificate 
2. amofri BSCI code of conduct 
3. WRAP certificate

These certificates ensure the factories follow broadly accepted ethical and labour practices such as (but not limited to) health and safety, use of chemicals, the ban of
child labour and subscribe to anti-slavery. We visit our factory partners in person
each year to ensure all standards are being met. In addition to regularly auditing
our factory partners, The Night Store factory base has partnered with Intertek
to guarantee we are adhering to world-class standards in chemical testing and
analysis requirements. Intertek carries out entirely independent chemical
testing annually and assists in compliance with regulatory and safety requirements.

 

Product Design & Buying

At The Night Store, we release data-driven and responsive collections according to what our community wants. With every launch, we have learnings along the
way to better inform our buying practices. We operate on a ‘test and repeat’
buying model, producing all of our designs in small volumes to begin with to
ensure minimal waste. Print is an integral part of our brand - all our prints are
dreamt up using original inspiration and hand drawn by our talented Design partner. We print and dye to order to limit wastage. Any fabric that is leftover is stored for future use, we never throw fabric away.

 

Beyond Product

Packaging: In 2022 we committed to using only recycled packaging for our
garments. We removed packing slips from all orders in 2023 - this removes
40,000 pieces of paper annually. In 2024, we replaced our plastic mailer bags
with naturally sourced paper bags that are 100% home-recyclable, meaning
once you've received your Night Store goodies, your mailer bag can go straight into
your recycling bin. Easy. We never print materials for meetings; We use public transport and car sharing initiatives when commuting. We are passionate about extending employment to the local community where possible to contribute to the local economy.

We know we’re not perfect, but we’re proud of our efforts thus far and are excited for where our commitment to sustainability will take us. We will continue to press for more sustainable business practices and are eternally optimistic about the future however, we feel it’s important to be honest about the problems faced by our industry and by us as a small independently owned business.