The sustainable fashion brand, on a mission to clean up the fashion industry
Organic Basics are targeting becoming one of the most sustainable brands that people can trust. Creating innovative sustainable products and building a community that celebrates and supports environmental activism and more responsible living.
Written by HYER NEWSROOM
Whilst the world scrambles to undo hundreds of years’ worth of o-zone destruction and ocean pollution, one Denmark-based company is re-writing the laws of fashion retail and paving a new sustainable path for consumers and businesses. Founded in 2014 by Mads Fibiger Rasmussen, Christoffer Immanuel and Alexander Christiansen, Organic Basics launched after the success of a crowdfunding campaign.
They started out by just selling the absolute basics – underwear and socks – for men and have continued to develop healthily ever since, with yearly growth rates between 200% and 400%. The fashion industry is one of the leading contributors to global warming and the team at Organic Basics want to do everything in their power to change that.
It all started with a pair of pants. The three founders noticed the poor quality of standard men’s underwear and after some digging, discovered that even premium underwear brands weren’t following good ethical and sustainable practices. It was time for a change. After securing funds through Kickstarter, the founding trio launched their products through a subscription service, offering monthly deliveries of sustainably made, quality boxers and socks, for men. The response from consumers was, to sum it up, ‘we want more’ and so the founders got to work on a women’s line.
In 2017, after months of searching for like-minded investors, the three founders secured a $1 million investment round. This allowed them to say farewell to crowdfunding and expand the Organic Basics brand enough to become profitable; building the business that they always knew they could.
After pivoting from a subscription service, to a more traditional e-commerce set-up, Organic Basics grew their catalogue, equipping consumers with sustainably-made versions of the t-shirts, vests, underwear and active wear, which may otherwise have been purchased from fast-fashion retailers.
For the founders, providing clarity to customers about the positive environmental impact of Organic Basics products, compared to traditional retailers was (and is) an important part of building the brand. An ‘Impact Index’ was added to each product page on the website, detailing exactly how much CO2, chemicals and waste has been prevented
in each item’s production, compared to standard industry practice.
The biggest headlines for Organic Basics came with the launch of their SilverTech Active line in 2018. Motivated by a desire to influence the world to use less water, the founders created underwear and fitness gear which kills 99% of bacteria. As a result, the garments can go weeks without being washed and still remain fresh.
As they’ve grown, the founders of Organic Basics have kept environmental activism at the core of their business, contributing to the fight against the global climate crisis twice a year, via their Organic Basics Fund. This is an initiative where a portion of Organic Basics’ profits is donated to ‘grassroots activists and organisations that advocate for justice for both the planet and communities.’ From clearing rubbish from waterways in kayaks, to planting wildflowers for bees, the Organic Basics fund has already helped a variety of important projects.
Although they didn’t reach a lot of their 2020 goals, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Organic Basics team still continued to make progress. For example, they succeeded in releasing a line of 100% organic cotton shirts, which can be completely deconstructed and recycled at their end-of-life. When it comes to their 2021 goals, they’re focusing on a take-back programme, exploring the notion of the company recovering their products from the consumer when they’re no longer wearable and re-absorbing them into the Organic Basics eco-system.
The founders of Organic Basics want to make an example of the fashion industry, by creating the most comfortable, sustainable and ethical clothing items for both men and women, whilst also continuing to grow the company’s support of environmental activism. From cotton farm, to consumer, transparency, integrity and always striving for better, is central to their mission.
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