Ethical Streetwear
Otso is the Ethical fashion brand coming straight out of West Yorkshire.
The brand features beautiful artworks created by the owner, Simon, and collaborations with amazingly talented artists all printed locally on ethical sustainable fabrics.
The Otso store can be found in the up-and-coming village of Slaithwaite, commonly pronounced by locals as “Slawit”. It’s a semi-rural, post-industrial village with a rich history in textile design. Well known for its wool-spinning mills and British Worsted Cloth.
The Otso store shares an entrance with their friends Zero Yorkshire, who run an eco-friendly minimal waste store next door. Selling liquid refills and unpackaged food and organic skin care items.
The brand is also featured In The Canvas by Querencia in New York and Antwerp and can be found in a number of cool boutiques, such as the record store Heavy Crates in Hebden Bridge, Custard Creates In Halifax and the ethical Fair Shop in Brighton.
“Our nature-inspired clothing label has been created to pursue a dream of producing a streetwear brand that is contemporary and socially responsible. Our garments are in touch with the people of our planet, a great fit in a grey urban landscape or the great green outdoors.”
Otso’s FairWear ethos allows collaboration with other local artists and illustrators, whilst promoting ethical manufacturing standards and environmental issues both locally and globally.
Otso was launched in 2016 by Simon Kenworthy. who works as a graphic designer and runs his own graphic design and branding studio KnownAim.
As a teenager growing up in West Yorkshire, Simon designed skateboarding-themed shirts and sold them to his friends when they were teenagers.
His label Otso features a self-created bear logo. The name Otso means “the spirit of the bear” inspired by Finnish folklore as the bear spirit. The beautiful graphics are generally related to nature-related things like climbing, exploring, and camping.
Otso garments are produced to a high standard using sustainable 100% organic cotton for its t-shirts and sweats. All screen-printed locally by hand in small batches to minimise overproduction and wastage.
Acting sustainably is a huge part of the ethos.
Otso creates quality, style and ethically-conscious garments for those who want to look their best. All garments are made to Fair Wear sweatshop-free industry standards in a low carbon factory.
FOR THE CREATIVE, SPIRITED & ECO-CONSCIOUS
All of Otso’s clothes are manufactured to Fair Wear standards and all garments feature the ‘OEKO-TEX® Standard 100’ stamp of approval.
Fair Wear is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, Fair Wear strives to improve working conditions in the textile industry and makes sure its members abide by a Code of Labour practice.
• No child labour
• No forced labour
• A safe working environment
• A living wage
To learn more about Fair Wear, check out their website.
Otso’s Co2 Reduction Promise
“Our 90% reduction has been achieved by a combination of low-impact organic farming, efficiency in manufacturing and transportation, and the use of renewable energy instead of fossil fuel-based grid electricity.
The carbon footprint has been calculated in accordance with BSI PAS2050 methodology, and certified by the Carbon Trust.
It has been calculated that a single Otso T-shirt saves around 7 kilograms of CO2, whereas a hooded sweatshirt saves up to 28 kgs of greenhouse gases. These are actual reductions achieved in the manufacturing, without any carbon offsetting.”
If you want to learn more about sustainable fashion practices check out our Introduction to Sustainable Fashion Law by Karolina Pruchniewicz
