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...
Why Family Farmers Need an Effective Alternative to Commodity Pricing
“A product is a commodity when all units of production are identical, regardless of who produces them.” – Don Hofstrand, Agricultural Specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Family farmers are at the very beginning of the agricultural supply...Poole Podcast: B-Corps and the Triple Bottom Line
Episode 10 of the Poole Podcast features Jessica Thomas and Eric Henry sharing inside information on B-Corps & the Triple Bottom Listen...
Upcyled T-Shirt Ideas to Help You Go Plastic-Free
This month is Plastic Free July, part of a global movement to reduce plastic use—so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and communities. At TS Designs, we’re well aware of the damage plastics do to the environment and our health. Microfibers released from polyester...
Celebrate International T-shirt Day at TS Designs on June 18
International T-shirt Day is coming up, so we’re celebrating with a T-shirt Party at TS Designs’ headquarters in Burlington, NC on Friday, June 18! International T-Shirt Day Party Friday, June 18, 2021 4:00pm-7:00pm TS Designs 2053 Willow Springs Ln,...
(Video) Part 4: The Harvest Conversation Series with Contempora Fabrics
For part 4 of our series, “The Harvest: A Gathering of Conversations for the Future of Cotton,” we talked with Alex Whitley, VP of Sales at Contempora Fabrics. Watch the video here. About Contempora: Founded in 1972, Contempora Fabrics is an employee owned circular...