Our Fabrics

NAECO is a Multi-Award winning British sustainable clothing manufacturer that makes luxury clothing from recycled and ethical textiles.

Our sustainable collection is a fresh take on fashion for the industry. Our love for ocean and our heritage in the fashion industry have been perfectly paired in this new uniform collection.

“EVERY YEAR 8 MILLION TONS OF PLASTIC END UP IN OUR OCEANS, IMPACTING OUR ENVIRONMENT. THIS PLASTIC IS TAKEN OUT AND GIVEN A NEW LIFE IN THE FORM OF CORPORATE CLOTHING”

The new collection is entirely made from modern recycled fabrics all made from ocean waste or ethical fibres. We have shorts, classic polo shirts, soft shells, chinos to tailored dresses & skirts.The look is contemporary, nautical and sustainable, and perfectly appropriate for the high-end lifestyle.

Feel confident knowing that not only do you look good but you are also doing good wearing NAECO garments.

Recycled RPET Textiles - The Process

We start by sourcing our plastics and this is a vital stage in our business that allows us to see the full traceability of our final textile. We collect plastic from multiple locations including the great garbage patch in the pacific, resorts int he Maldives and fished from rivers and oceans around the globe through our various partnerships. The collected plastic is processed into a variety of RPET textiles we currently use in the NAECO range. What makes us unique from anyone else using RPET is the quality of our fabrics. NAECO fabrics feel super soft and like nothing else you have ever felt before - even against non recycled polyester our textiles stand on their own.

This unique set of processes we take fabrics through gives a super soft hand feel with long life durability and allows us to give our signature 5-Yeah Guarantee on all garments bought directly through us.

We produce textiles in Asia, USA and Europe with an aim to producing as close to the initial collection of materials.

Where do you produce garments?

We started out producing all our garments right here int he UK and we still have over 75% of our garments produced in house in our own workshop. We also use a Sustainable, ethical factory in Thailand that we have a brilliant relationship with. We provide dental, healthcare ad medical on site and pay living wages to all involved in our supply chain to ensure we never compromise on our ethics.

Why produce more plastic ?

Sadly, plastic for now is here to stay with 8 Million tons of plastic ending up In our oceans every year. It will be many years before the problem of waste plastic and how we deal with it is addressed. Until then we have decided to take responsibility for as much as we can as a business while plastic still is not being properly recycled. As better uses for recycled plastic emerge, our practices will change.

Why rPET

Not only is our specific RPET extremely durable it is also ideal for clothing applications as we have engineered it to be water repellant, sweat kicking and stain repellant. On top of this it also helps the planet as:

Producing RPET uses over 50% less energy than PET fabrics
Around a third less CO2 is produced in comparison to PET production
One of our RPET T-shirts uses 12 plastic bottles
Using rPET reduces our dependance on petroleum and other natural resources as a raw material for PET
We can weave a high quality textile that lasts longer
Existing PET garments in circulation can be turned into rPET diverting them from landfill
Full 360 circular clothing model - we recycle all clothing that is brought back to us which then go into further clothing applications closing the loop.

What about microfibers ?

It is an absolute fact that microfibres pollute the entire planet’s waterways. A groundbreaking 2011 study found that microfibers made up 85% of human-made debris on shorelines around the world. Approx 1 - 1.5 grams of microfibres are released into the water system when washing a new micro fibre releasing garment. Which then enters the ecosystem and ultimately the planets food chain which could have devastating results for the planets survival.

We have three approaches to greatly reducing the impact of microfibres from our RPET garments;

Firstly we produce RPET fabrics that are bonded with a tighter weave and release less microfibres when washed. Garments that are produced with looser weaves, produce more microfibres.
We also have a range that consists of 70% of our garments needing traditionally less washing. We produce swim shorts and outerwear as these are known to be washed less frequently than garments like trousers.
We encourage the use of a microfibre catcher when washing your clothing like those from Guppy Friend. This can then be disposed of in a responsible way away from our water system.
We have a buy back scheme where consumers receive discounts for trading in their old NAECO garments that we then introduce to our 360 closing the loop scheme.