Sure, our knits are designed to look good. But we care about people and the planet, too.
Sure, our knits are designed to look good. But we care about people and the planet, too.
We do individual pieces, rather than collections. Pre-orders rather than deadstock. Patiently waiting for our Corozo buttons to fall from the tree rather than using plastic. You get the point. Sustainability is at the core of all of our decisions. The overall goal? To produce sustainable knitwear that delivers social change in Lithuania’s rural communities.
We're seriously proud of the knitters team we've gathered. Some work full time, others knit when they have time after taking care of their families. Currently, we have around 70 hand-knitters who work from home in rural Lithuania and two vetted, audited, family-run, female-founded partner production factories.
Financial independence for all of our knitters is the goal. And a little extra. In many parts of rural Lithuania, men are still the breadwinners. By encouraging financial independence, we’re ensuring women here have voices in their households and communities. We encourage them to dream and we help to bring those dreams to life.
All of our knits are 100% biodegradable - you’ll never find any synthetic stuff or microplastics. We only use the highest quality natural fabrics to craft our knits, like 100% Merino wool, cotton or linen.
We have our handmade production and then we have our “fully fashioned” production. That’s an industry term that basically means each sweater piece is individually factory-knitted and then sewn together by hand. This zero-waste approach is pretty cool because it ensures no leftover scraps - we literally knit the shapes that’ll be sewn together.
Our goal is to only ever produce as much as you and the rest of our community needs, when you need it.
You’ll see no plastic anywhere at The Knotty Ones. Nada. Zero. Zilch. That means no microplastic in our knits, no plastic packaging and that even extends to our buttons. Those are made from Northern South American Corozo seeds, so each one is ever so slightly unique. We wait for the seeds to drop naturally, which is one of the reasons we wouldn’t be able to mass-produce knits, even if we wanted to.
Our packaging is 100% recycled and recyclable - don’t throw it away! It’s made from corn starch, which is non-toxic and breaks down within six months in home compost. We use only certified home compostable mailing satchels, which can be used twice (they have fitted tapes for second use) before it’s composted for good.
No fashion brand is perfect and we don’t claim to be. Sustainable fashion is an ever-evolving thing and we’re always finding new ways to stay at the forefront of the action. We’re open to hearing your feedback and/or suggestions as to how we can become greener or make a bigger impact. After all, the more people get involved, the bigger changes we’ll see.