Putting the Farmer First: A guide to buying cotton directly from the farmer
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Hemp White Paper
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A Toolkit for Fibersheds and Brands
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Is Commodity Pricing the Best Model We Can Give Cotton Farmers?
Download White PaperThe Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Podcast – How (& Why) to Build a Local Dirt-to-Shirt Supply Chain
In a post-pandemic world, what’s the value of a dirt-to-shirt supply chain? Eric Henry, President of TS Designs, believes that now, more than ever, businesses need to take an increasingly holistic view of their responsibility to the planet and society as a...
Celebrating Black History Month – First Black-Owned Textile Mill Made History
To commemorate Black History Month, we’d like to celebrate the first African American owned and operated textile mill, which is less than 100 miles from TS Designs’ Burlington, North Carolina headquarters. Built in the late 1890s, the mill broke ground literally and...
People, Planet, Profit: The Triple Bottom Line Leads Us into 2022
People. Planet. Profit. The Triple Bottom Line has been our vision for years now. But like every business that’s faced unusual challenges in the last year, it hasn’t always been easy. TS Designs President Eric Henry says it’s been like juggling water. We’re...
6 Surprisingly Good Ways To Upcycle Your T-Shirts During the Holidays
Imagine 13 million tons of clothes and shoes in a big pile in your backyard (if you have a really big backyard, of course.). Thirteen million times two thousand — that’s a lot of zeroes! Did you know that’s the amount of clothing and shoes the EPA estimates ended up...
Supporting Local This Holiday Season? There’s No Better Time.
The holiday season has come around again, and there’s no better time to support local than during the season of giving. To learn more about the opportunity to shop local during the holidays, we sat down with Malik Walker, Market Manager at the 2021 Saxapahaw...
Does Transparency in the Fashion Industry Matter? We Say, “Yes!”
Merriam-Webster says transparency is “the quality or state of being transparent – characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices.” If you’ve followed our work for any length of time, you’ve heard us talk...
How Shopping for the Lowest Price Undermines Cotton Farmers
Shopping for the lowest price has become a sport of sorts. End-of-the-season clearance sales and special holiday pricing has won many of us over, and we’ve gotten used to celebrating when we’ve scored a good deal. Sarah Kelley, Principal of Common Threads Consulting,...
Why Buyers and Brands Should Rethink the Way We Pay Cotton Farmers
In a multi-billion-dollar global industry, farmers have become invisible. Though they’re essential to every aspect of our daily lives — from food to clothing—they’re often forgotten. Sowing their seeds, hoping for rain (but not too much). Waiting for harvest, and then...