Sustainable Fashion - A Journey

This is where our journey begins. Much like us after a long day, the fabric that will be used to create your Unfolded clothes starts by resting. It arrives at the factory from the mill where it has been dyed - and printed if it’s a printed piece - and needs to be laid out on tables to ‘rest’ before it can be cut into the shapes needed to create your new items. Fabric needs to rest because the tension of the fibres change from when it’s in a roll and when it’s laid out and ‘rested’. Once rested, the settled fibres allow the fabric to be cut correctly.

The fabric for your items has finished resting! Next, it gets rolled back and forth to create multiple layers on a cutting table. The dimensions for each size are entered into a computer system which calculates the most efficient way to cut the fabric so that no unnecessary wastage is created.

Each section of the garment is then cut in layers. There will be several layers of each piece which create the garment, and more complex items require more pieces to be cut. For example; an item will likely have a front panel, a back panel and each sleeve, and if there is a collar that will also be cut at this time too. This will affect how long this stage takes.

Next, they get ticketed and bundled. Each individual component needs to be ticketed to identify which part of the garment is it (right sleeve, collar etc.) which is really important to make sure that the next stage, stitching, runs smoothly.

It’s time for your items to be stitched together! Before a new style comes to the ‘line’ (the name for the row of tailors who will be working on it), everyone comes together for a meeting to look at the new style they will be working on. The QA team (Quality Assurance) will present the ‘gold seal sample’, thisis the sample that has been agreed with us at Unfolded, and the standard which all the products being made need to meet.

The tailors will then go and put the right needles and guards on their machines and make sure that the right thread is loaded in for the stitches that the garment needs.The factory we work with uses a ‘production line’ method where each tailor is responsible for one part of the stitching. The first may sew the front and back panel together (including the care label), then it will be handed on to another tailor to sew in the sleeves, another to attach the collar, the next to add a frill or any detailing, and so on until the garment is fully stitched with all of the individual components attached.

As you might expect, stitching is the longest stage of the process. The complexity of the style will determine how longthistakes - a dress will take longer than a T-shirt for example.

Great news, your items are in the finishing stage! Once the garment is complete, it is taken to be ironed and pressed. Thisi s done much in the same way that you would iron at home.

The garment is then neatly folded and packed into protective, eco-friendly packaging to keep it in great condition while it makes its way to you. It will be put in a box with garments of the same size, which gets sealed up for careful shipment. It then moves on to the most exciting stageof all, documentation and handover!

OK, maybe it’s not the most exciting, but this stage is so important to get right. The factory has to complete lots of paperwork for the authorities in the origin country and the destination country to account for exactly what is being shipped. This needs to be 100% correct, down to the unit in each size - everything between the paperwork which comes from This is Unfolded and from the factory has to be completely identical in order to process the shipment of goods and to avoid delays at customs.

Once everything is in place, our logistics partners will take over and your new This is Unfolded clothes will continue their journey to you!

It’s over to our logistics partner! The items for your Unfolded order are on their way to the Pick & Pack facility, where the team will pack each of your items into our 100% recycled and biodegradable packaging.

We chose this packaging for a number of reasons. They’re made from eco-certified materials that will decompose completely, so they’re far better for the environment than plastic. They’re also efficient for transporting, allowing us to protect your items whilst using space effectively. 

After your items have been packed up, they will begin their final stage of the journey to you. Through transit from the factory to shipping, then onto their final destination - your wardrobe!

We hope you love your new sustainable clothes as much as we do - and we hope you loved learning about the journey your clothes take to get to your doorstep. The more you know, the more of an impact we can make!