Our ambition is to be the most responsible and traceable brand, affirmed through certification and authentic storytelling, where desirable products meet authentic and verified green claims. Every piece we craft is aligned with our belief that we can create and care for the Earth. But we still have work to do.
If you work in the industry or have contacts that could help provide solutions to the goals outlined below, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to info@akyn.com
OUR TO DO LIST
We’ve chosen to work predominantly with four main natural, botanic, organic or regenerative fibres for our collections. (Read more about our fibre choices).
Our goal is for over 90% of our garments to be crafted from natural, regenerative, and recycled fibres, however there are times when we use minimal amounts of recycled synthetics for durability or specific technical needs. For example, some of our knitwear contains 20% recycled nylon, and it is our number one priority to work with our supplier to reduce this.
Sourcing responsibly made trims – buttons, zips, and embellishments crafted from natural or recycled materials – remains a work in progress. The reality is nuanced: truly sustainable, custom options are often tied to high minimums, which paradoxically risks generating excess.
We're continually exploring alternatives, such as transitioning our pearls to recycled plastics. However, current suppliers can only deliver in volumes that far exceed our needs– creating a different kind of inefficiency.
Although we're not there yet, new innovations continue to emerge, so we are optimistic. As the industry continues to evolve, we are committed to revisiting these decisions and moving closer to fully sustainable solutions.
While we’ve carefully considered our plastic-free packaging, it’s our goal to go one step further and offer our customers the choice of reused packaging. We hoped to have this in place for launch, but working through the logistics needs more time. Watch this space!
For products that require linings– such as our coats and tailored pieces– we currently use 100% Cupro, a man-made cellulosic fibre derived from cotton linter.
Our goal is to transition to TENCEL™ for all linings, and from Collection 002 onwards, all black linings will be made from TENCEL™.
However, due to current production scale and the limited availability of TENCEL™ linings from suppliers, seasonal styles requiring specific coloured linings will continue to be crafted from 100% Cupro. This is to avoid the unnecessary waste of ordering large quantities of TENCEL™ linings directly from Lenzing that may not be required in future collections.
In tailored garment construction, adhesives are used to bond components directly to the fabric. Currently, the only solution available is a recycled synthetic adhesive. While we haven’t yet found a fully bio-based or biodegradable alternative on the market, we are actively researching alternative solutions and hope other options will become available soon.
We are in the process of transitioning all our conventional cotton sewing threads to certified organic cotton alternatives.
We always consider the full lifecycle of our products, including end of life, but as a new brand, there are some circularity initiatives, such as resale, that we are not yet ready to implement but that we intend to introduce further down the line. Read more about our approach to circularity.