Why our Manufacturer was our most important decision.

China, China, China. Everything seems to be made in China.

For Field and the starting of the label, choosing the right Manufacturer was the most important factor to creating the label. Why? Because quality products, ethical manufacturing and sustainable creation are not only key factors to the brand but hard to find all in the one spot.

Part and parcel of sharing the journey of starting a business is that when decisions change, there is a requirement of transparency to you, the customers. When we started from the get go we were adamant Field would be manufactured here, in Australia.

It wasn’t until after thousands of you expressed through polls that a quality and ethically made garment was more important than a garment that was manufactured onshore, had us reconsider.

It is well known Australian manufacturing is expensive. Part of the reason for this is you need to pay many individuals to do certain jobs in garment creation where as in offshore manufacturing, it’s all done in-house. Realistically the RRP of the dresses were going to be substantially higher than what we were wanting. It was economically unviable to be charging $500+ for a cotton dress.

The manufacturer we work with is a small, boutique manufacturer that’s run by an Australian woman. The business nearly a decade ago and she and the business model were put under the microscope to know that it fit with Field’s values.

Here are some facts about how the business is run. Every employee is paid above the award wage and this is reviewed at the start of every year in accordance with Industry standards. Employees receive 28 days a year leave, plus sick and maternity leave and offered health cover. They also receive a payment which is equivalent to our Superannuation. Many employees that have worked there for a long time, some even from when the business was started. We have looked into other brands that use this manufacturer and they are equally about ethics and sustainability as we are.

It tool a while to find the right manufacturer, but we're so glad we persisted. We had many knock backs because of the size of the business and the fact Field is a start up. It wasn’t easy and China was never an option.

Here's to creating without leaving a huge footprint. Finding balance is hard but we do our best to play our part, (even if it is small).

Edwina x