FABRIC: NORTH CAROLINA COTTON
Regions: North Carolina, USA
Fabric Name:
Cotton of the Carolinas T-shirt
Origin:
Gossypium sp
Who made our fabric:
TS Designs and its affiliate, Solid State Cotton, Burlington, North Carolina
Natural history and ecology:
As the 7th largest producer of cotton in the US, North Carolina has a strong history with cotton. With a mild climate and access to waterpower, cotton was and is a major part of the state’s economy. TS Designs has created a fabric that starts with local cotton farmers, passes to local manufacturers, and ends up becoming t-shirts, completely made within North and South Carolina. Through a focus on building relationships with farmers and create a transparent system around costs, TS Designs works to provide a sustainable system of creating a fabric from dirt to shirt.
“The farmer is the most important person in the cotton supply chain.”
Natural Dyes in this fabric…
COMMON NAME: Black walnut
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Juglans Nigra
PART USED: Inner husk
POTENTIAL MEDICINAL PROPERTIES: antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.
“Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. I’ll be on that journey for the rest of my life, both personally and professionally. Not one person has the answer; the answers lie within your community.”
— Eric Henry/ North Carolina Cotton
Eric Henry
Meet Eric Henry, President of TS Design. Eric Henry began his involvement in sustainability on January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect and he witnessed his company from the late 70's being destroyed. He then grasped the concept that a business is not just about financial gain and changed TS Designs to be based on a triple bottom line of people – planet – profit. TS Designs aims to make the best quality apparel with a completely transparent and traceable domestic supply chain and is the first certified B Corporation in North Carolina. He and his team have created an entire system of textile production in the Carolinas, from "dirt to shirt" - with a fully transparent supply chain, all the way to the farmer who grew the cotton. Over the past three decades, since the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, he and his company have been pivoting to keep the focus on sustainability.