All of our garments are created in our Napier Design Room and are proudly New Zealand made.
KILT loves NZ and all it has to offer, which is why it is so important to us that our clothing is all made right here; this has been at the core of our brand since the very beginning. It is who we are!
Who makes your clothes?
We fully support and use New Zealand CMT (cut, make, trim) factories from across New Zealand!
We also support local makers for all of our accessories!
Why we love New Zealand made:
Keeping skills and jobs in New Zealand:
By keeping our clothing and accessories production in New Zealand we are keeping the skills and jobs within our country. It is so important to us that we do not lose the sewing industry in New Zealand. We believe that being New Zealand made is better for everyone that lives in our beautiful country. More jobs and skills stay here and everyone is treated according to New Zealand employment law!
Quality control:
As the factories we use are within NZ, we can stand behind the quality of our garments and the working conditions. Plus our KILTies don't need to check the labels as all of our clothing is made here
We realise that being a sustainable and ethical business is important, we are always striving to do better! These are some of the things we do:
Assorted Items
We use our fabric remnants to create unique pieces sold exclusively in our boutiques. These are very special pieces that have been hand cut and made right here in our Design Room. You can tell if your garment is one of these if the colour is "Assorted".
Compostable satchels
We use plant-based r3pack courier bags for sending out our Online customer orders. They are home compostable and are made with corn starch with non-toxic inks to provide a natural alternative to traditional plastic-based courier bags.
Sewing on labels
We sew our pricing labels into our garments rather than using plastic swing tags. This means no more pesky bits of plastic attached to your garments or being thrown into a landfill. Plus the card that we use for our tags is made from recycled paper and is 100% recyclable too.
Paper or Fabric?
At KILT we offer brown paper bags which can be recycled or our fabric Tote Bags to take your garments home in. Having environmentally-friendly bag options has always been a focus for us.
Recycled paper
We choose to use recycled cards for all of our garment tags, gift cards, garment care cards anything card! Plus every time we do a print run our local printing partner Mammoth plants a native tree!
Digital receipts
We encourage our customers to get their receipts emailed to them. This limits the waste plus it makes it so convenient as they are easy to store or file away and they help to de-clutter your wallet!
Reusable courier bags
To send stock to boutiques, we have created reusable courier bags out of old billboard skins from local sign companies in Napier. Until we have enough we also use recyclable cardboard boxes. Our garments are folded and sent without individual wrapping or packaging.
Reducing CO2 emissions
We ship 100% of our fabric. This cuts CO2 emissions as planes produce 500g of CO2 per metric ton of freight per kilometer, cargo ships only produce 10-40g per kilometer.
Fabric scraps
We are always ensuring our patterns are planned to maximise the use of our fabric as much as possible, and larger pieces are then made into our Assorted items however, we still have smaller scraps. We donate these to re-source, hospice and local schools and kindergartens.
Supporting local is so important to us that’s why we set up all of our new stores with the help of the local business around us:
Our Clothing Racks are literally made just around the corner from our design room in Napier.
Our Ply Counters are literally made next door to our design room in Napier (it doesn't get more local than that).
Our Ply Screens are made by a talented crew in Tauranga.
Fabrics, code of conduct and social responsibility.
We source our materials from a variety of reputable companies throughout NZ and globally. Unfortunately, the material that we purchase is not NZ made due to availability with the required quantities that we produce. We wish NZ made textiles were more readily available, as we love to support locals!
KILT is proud to be a part of a growing global movement that has already made great strides in improving conditions for workers across the apparel and accessories production industry and to contribute to achieving ever-greater levels of transparency and protection for those workers in the near and distant future.
Click HERE to read the KILT supplier code of conduct.