By supporting farming practices for long-term good, MATE the Label and its partners in the California Cotton & Climate Coalition are advancing a planet-friendly fabrics model for fashion brands.
Apparel companies like MATE the Label are finding an enthusiastic and growing audience for clothing that is comfortable, stylish, and good for people and the planet. As a founding member of the California Cotton & Climate Coalition (C4), MATE partners with other fashion companies, nonprofits, researchers, and farmers to grow Climate BeneficialTM cotton that catalyzes critically important shifts in land stewardship and prioritizes domestic milling partners. MATE the Label partnered closely with Laguna Enviro Fabrics in LA to bring its Climate Beneficial Cotton Styles to life.
By shunning fast fashion and adopting sourcing practices for long-term good, MATE and its partners are advancing a business model that offers traceable fabrics made with farm-forward methods. With its newly launched Climate Beneficial Cotton styles, MATE builds on its mission to provide apparel that is “clean from seed to skin.” It’s a commitment that Founder and Creative Director Kayti Carr made when launching MATE in 2013 and one that has grown since then. “As a business, we believe that prioritizing the health of the planet and its people is an urgent matter,” she says. “By committing to non-toxic, natural, and organic materials, we hope to lead the clean fashion movement and affect change in the industry.”
In its home state of California, MATE partners with growers who use practices that improve soil health with regenerative practices. These include reduced or eliminated tillage, herbicides, and synthetic nitrogen, and more animal integration, crop rotation, and compost application. What that means for MATE consumers is fabrics that are grown, dyed, and sewn nearby and are better for their well-being and the future of the Earth. “We believe clothing should be a comfortable safe haven, not a place for harmful chemicals such as PFAs, BPA, pesticides, and microplastics,” MATE says.
A Healthy Supply Chain Creates Locally Made Apparel for Global Good
The Climate BeneficialTM Collection also reinforces MATE’s commitment as a Certified B Corporation to measure and improve its impact on customers, workers, community, and the environment. This includes MATE’s emphasis on a Los Angeles-centered supply chain that helps reduce the company’s carbon footprint and strengthen the local economy. As the company notes on its website, everything from MATE is cut, sewn, dyed, packaged, and shipped by a real, live person.
MATE has a supply chain Code of Conduct to help ensure its styles are crafted in factories where employees are paid a living wage and work in safe conditions. As MATE notes in the code: “Our goal to evolve the fashion ecosystem is so much more than a single-item to-do list. It requires us to uphold our very own set of standards at every step of our product’s lifecycle.”
MATE has broadened and deepened its standards as the company has grown from its origins as a T-shirt brand to offer a line of apparel, from sleepwear to sweaters. Its “MATE Eight” areas of focus, with the company’s explanation of each, include:
- Essential: Helping customers limit their impact by creating quality goods made to last. With designs and a color palette, MATE aims to create seasonless pieces.
- Plastic Free: MATE eliminated plastic in its labels and packaging, and developed activewear with only 8% spandex, which is significantly less than typical activewear. Products are made without polyester, nylon, or polyamide.
- Circular: MATE offers a recycling program that accepts customers’ old garments and gives them new life as new MATE products. The company also collects cutting scraps from factories and incorporates them into new MATE products with the help of a mechanical fiber recycler.
A California-Based Coalition Creating a New Norm in the Fashion Industry
With the Climate BeneficialTM Cotton line, MATE and its C4 partners demonstrate how apparel companies, farmers, and mills can evolve growing practices to mitigate the climate crisis. By supporting new methods of growing cotton, coalition members are also helping to advance more resilient food-growing systems. Learn more about the C4 history and goals.
The C4 is committed to agricultural practices that boost soil health, increase soil carbon capture, and decrease the use of synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides. The coalition aims to create a model that both conventional and organic farms can use for growing cotton.
In addition to MATE the Label, coalition partners in the C4 include Reformation, Coyuchi, Outerknown, Trace, Imperial Yarn, Carhartt, Bowles Farming Company, Stone Land Company, and Laguna Enviro Fabrics.
Explore MATE’s farm-forward, domestic, and traceable Climate Beneficial Cotton line.