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Made in Portugal
Your old Clepto shirts just don't wear out? And even though washing colored laundry for you means washing black and white together, does the seagull bravely sail against fading like facing seven northwesterly winds? The reason for the long-lasting quality is found in a country at the far corner of Europe that has been skilled in the production of high-quality textiles even longer than Cleptomanicx – Portugal.
Fair Working Conditions
About two-thirds of our products are manufactured in Braga. Since the name of the city probably means as little to you as it did to us 20 years ago, we want to introduce you to the rugged beauty of Northern Portugal.
Because the high quality of our products is as important to us as the conditions under which they are produced, we opted for stable cooperation early on. To ensure that not only you associate the seagull with the good life, the guarantee of fair working conditions for our partners on the Atlantic and sustainable production processes are crucial for us. To learn more about our approach, you should definitely get to know Joao, Marina, and Manuel, three employees of the companies that warmly welcomed us in Northern Portugal.
Nobody wakes up and says to themselves, "Today, I want to pollute the environment!" However, environmental protection doesn't happen by itself. Through close contact with our producers in Portugal, we can influence the chemicals used in production. We receive a list of all chemicals used in the entire production process from all participating producers. This puts us above the prescribed REACH standard and allows us to identify and replace questionable chemicals. We go a step further with the Restricted Substances List (RSL). If a substance does not meet our conditions, it is excluded, and an environmentally friendly substitute is sought and found.
Production in Europe
Excluded substances are those that are very toxic to humans, genetically effective, carcinogenic, affect reproductive capacity, are toxic to aquatic organisms, and have long-term harmful effects or are dangerous to the ozone layer.
A significant advantage of our production in Europe is the proximity to the production sites and their operators. Unlike manufacturing in the Far East, we have the opportunity for frequent direct exchange with our partners here. For 20 years, Cleptomanicx has been producing its shirts, tops, and hoodies in collaboration with the Torres family. They oversee production on-site and ensure the smooth flow of all manufacturing steps. They are also excellent hosts who still surprise us with a bottle of port wine during our visits... In Barcelos, near the old university town of Braga, 55% of our goods are produced. We know all the suppliers personally and are aware of the chemicals used and the working conditions.
The industrial infrastructure of the location allows us to keep delivery routes short during ongoing production. All manufacturing steps from the imported organic cotton yarn take place within a radius of 20 kilometers: fabric production, dyeing, cutting, sewing, printing, embroidery, to attaching size labels and price tags. The seagull's nest is prepared by the fabric supplier Fervi. For 20 years, they have been working with the Torres family, producing our fabrics for hoodies and shirts from undyed yarn. Representatives of the Fervi company purchase the raw yarn in Turkey, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and India. At Fervi, huge vacuum pipes ensure that the cotton dust generated during production, occurring from the friction of the yarn in the machines, is regularly drawn from the air. This is a standard precaution in fabric factories, which is particularly carefully executed here. Yarn remnants generated during production can be further processed into insulation and plaster material.
Environmentally Friendly
Life is all chemistry, as our teacher wisely said. In the case of Manuel and Bernardino Costa, this statement holds true because they have been utilizing a simple chemical reaction for a long time.
In their factory, 40 employees give the raw yarn the right look through reactive dyeing – now, look back at the notes from class! All dyes and aids used here comply with strict ecological standards and are environmentally safe. Cutting of the pattern pieces takes place in the in-house cutting department of the Torres family. Here, four to five people work on electrically operated cutting tables. The seagull is printed on using the screen printing process. To make our star shine on a dark background, we use as gentle printing pastes as possible. On light fabric, white viscose emulsions mixed with ink and water are sufficient. All means comply with strict ecological aspects.
But who turns the various fabric pieces into a shirt? Two women-led sewing workshops in the immediate vicinity of Braga assemble the sum of the individual parts. This is not magic but honest work, which, like all other production steps, we fairly remunerate. Each of the ten seamstresses receives a fixed monthly salary, above the regional wage level, paid 14 times a year. When producing new Cleptomanicx styles, many things are completed just in time, so the overtime of the workers is also compensated. Through these fair working conditions, they can dedicate themselves to their task with great devotion, ultimately reflected in the high quality of our products. After this final step, the fresh pieces sail back from the Atlantic to the North Sea and are – ready to board! – finally with you.
