Howies

When you Google 'howies' the tag line is: 'howies is an active clothing company that believes in making higher quality, lower impact products for our sports and day-to-day lives.'

This pretty much sums up howies, but there is much more to them. I say they, because there is very much a family of people who make and sell the clothing based in Cardigan, Wales. I was first introduced to the company during Art Foundation for their inspiring catalogues, which not only sell their products (really well too!) but also give space for articles on things they believe in. 

In the most recent magazine, one article, 'Clean yourself up' looks at the process of dyeing fabrics. The factory howies use in Portugal has this season moved from traditional batch dyeing to 'jet dyeing'. 'Now, instead of the fabric being dipped, it is sprayed with dye by high-powered jets. This uses a lot less water - just 3 litres per kilo of fabric.'

Another article looks at their products and subsequent carbon footprint, in a practical and honest way, in 'howies Carbon Homework'. The article is a double page graph of paint footprints comparing two seasons of clothes - A/W 08 with S/S 09. 

The clothes are made of organic cotton, and denim where applicable, and every product listing states the materials and where it was made. Coming out in the summer is the Hemp Jean.

'These jeans are made by mixing organic hemp with organic cotton.

Hemp is twice as strong as cotton.

Hemp does not require conventional pesticides or herbicides like cotton does.

Hemp does not deplete the nutrients in soil.

Hemp is less thirsty than cotton.

It uses less water (around 2300 litres).

That would be enough to fill 8 baths of water.

The hemp jean will be out this summer - £225'

We are used to fashion on the highstreet being far cheaper than this, but the quality is significantly less, therefore dubbed 'throw-away fashion', and the impact on the environment significantly worse. We need to re-evaluate the true cost of the clothes we buy, how much is it costing me? how much did it cost to make? how long will it last? what impact has this garment had?

howies have also recently introduced a line called Hand-Me-Down -' These products have been made to last. So that one day you can hand them down to someone else. And they can carry on their little journeys.' 

The range currently consists of a male and female version of a jacket at £400 and 3 types of bags, with a 10 year guarantee. The jacket is described as being 'designed to look timeless. So it doesn't either come in or go out of fashion. So not only will the jacket last the test of time but so will its design.'  

I think this is a great idea, and another, cheaper way to continue a garment's life span is to buy from a charity shop and learn to mend and adjust your clothes. However, the product itself needs to be reasonably well made, and I think howies are spot-on with the lengths gone to craft durable and long-lasting clothing.