ImagesMagUK_December_2020

IS DECORATOR PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 36 images DECEMBER 2020 It’s going to become more and more the norm DTG printing on the Brother GTX effort. A lot of people use wonderful organic garments and then print plastisol or discharge inks on them.” The company has used mainly Stanley/Stella garments since the brand launched in 2012, although it also draws on the ranges from ethical brands Continental Clothing and Neutral. “Stanley/Stella is just great quality, [with] good stock levels, great colours and nice styles,” Hannah says. Minimising plastic A lot of effort has also gone into minimising plastic across the business. “We never buy in any plastic packaging and we’ve asked our suppliers not to send us any where they can, but if it’s stuff that’s already packaged in plastic from the factory and we can’t stop that, then we’ll re-use it. We have our own branded brown paper tape so we re-use the boxes that we get sent stuff in.” Even the garment labels for relabelling are plastic-free and made of organic cotton. The business is also vegan in all its processes and materials, reflecting the couple’s belief in the value of a plant-based diet. Hannah, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, carefully researches equipment before purchase to ensure it complies with the company’s environmental policy as much as possible. The current set-up includes an automatic RoqPrint You machine and a new M&R Copperhead Pro Mini for smaller format prints. “Nothing is 100% sustainable but it’s an important consideration – what uses the least power, what machinery is going to last the longest,” she notes. The company expanded into DTG two years ago and now has two Brother GTX printers. Embroidery is currently outsourced to a freelance, but is about to be moved in-house to tie in with I Dress Myself expanding into a neighbouring unit, increasing its floor space to 4,500 square feet. “We don’t particularly want to send our customers elsewhere, especially as nowhere seems to do a fully sustainable option so, if we can provide that, we’re going to be gaining customers,” Hannah explains. I Dress Myself’s commitment to plastic-free embroidery also presents challenges. “A lot of people use the rayon thread for the top thread, but we’re using rayon thread as the bobbin thread, and plastic-free backing instead of plastic-based backing,” Hannah says. “We have to wind our own bobbins as you can’t get pre-wound rayon bobbins. The bottom thread then isn’t quite as fine as you might be able to get if you are using polyester so it can affect the way you set the design up and how to do things. It certainly works well – it’s just a bit of playing about to get it right.” B Corp With all this in place, I Dress Myself is nearing the end of the process to gain certification as a B Corporation – businesses that have proven their ethical approach to employees, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. “We found out about it only a little while ago as we saw a lot of like-minded businesses were becoming B Corps,” Hannah says. I Dress Myself began the process at the end of last year, adding it as a target in its mission statement because it demonstrates “the highest standards of social and environmental performance and that business can balance profit with people and planet”. Hannah says it has been “a very useful process” for drawing together everything that I Dress Myself does. “You don’t have to score highly for everything but you have to get a score of 80 or above across five sections, and you have to provide evidence for those areas. Because we do think about the environment and sustainability in everything we do, we score relatively high – but there were so many things we hadn’t thought of: it has encouraged Garments for sustainable fashion brand Genuine Gesus