Our Ethical & Eco Practices
Directions to our shop in Lewes

	Design All Gossypium products are designed in house, when we design products we go through a process that we have invented , and that enable us to check that it is the products you want but also that ensure we are using the right material for this products. Our products are design to last as long as possible and we will go a very long way to ensure this .
	Grow The next step in the process is to ensure that we are using the right cotton. We spend a lot of time in India working closely with cotton farmers. This partnerships reduces the risk both for the farmer and ourselves as we able to make long terms planning and also because we are working outside the commodity market. Once the cotton is ready it is transported by road to the nearest Mill to be transformed into cotton yarn.
	Make Because we have designed the products ourselves and source the cotton ourselves it is easier to go on and make the products. It's a bit like cooking with the best ingredient our having a take away. Being in India or in England we only work with factories that we have personally visited and where we feel satisfied by the quality of the work they produce and very importantly their level of transparency. For us transparency is more important than any certification.
	Enjoy Once in the hands of our customers our products are enjoyed for years. Because they have been designed and produced with such care and attention they will last for a long time. We always welcome feedback about our products and a a file full of photos and letters from our customers , this is what we work for .

HISTORY OF GOSSYPIUM

Gossypium began in 1998 when two textile technologists, Abigail Garner & Thomas Petit, got together sharing the belief that many steps in the manufacture and sale of clothing were outdated or unnecessary and that better clothes could be designed & made in a more environmentally friendly, fairer and more direct way. They started their work with the cotton fibre and moved to India to become consultants to Agrocel, a farmers' service centre located in the cotton fields of Kutch, in western India.

Their starting point was that the cotton farmer growing the cotton should get a fair price, and together with Agrocel they developed a formula for growing and trading in cotton that put the needs of the farmer first and ensured his long term environmental and economic health. The resulting product from two years of work is Agrocel's Pure & fair cotton fibre - a very high quality fibre, which is both organic & fairly traded.

They felt that a key issue within the textile processing industry was that the spinning, fabric & garment production should not be carried out in a country far away from where the cotton was grown. As well as lowering the costs of production & transportation an added benefit of local processing & manufacturing is the benefit to the environment.

In 2000 Thomas and Abi felt that it was time to open the market from the European side and opened an office in Lewes, Sussex, creating clothing brand Gossypium, the name meaning cotton in Latin.

In the beginning Gossypium was sold via a market stall on Brighton beach and staff soon learned what people were looking for in organic cotton - and also what they weren't. It has been this interactive customer connection that has enabled Gossypium to grow as a brand and develop products that make the best of Agrocel's high quality organic cotton fibre.

Today Gossypium is a leading brand in what is often called fairtrade fashion.

Gossypium's full collection of cotton products are available from the Gossypium shop in Lewes, near Brighton. Gossypium is also available by mail order and customers can order 24hours a day through the website . Gossypium clothing is also available through selected retailers in the UK.

The company's objective for the next few years is to create a strong collection of classic products which respect Gossypium's ethical and environmental values, as well as ensuring that products are readily available all year round and at the right price for the consumer.