China and Manufacturing


A lot of what we make we have made in China. It would be great if we could do more manufacturing in Canada but there are several reasons why it's harder for small companies to do business in Canada.

  • Small product runs need a modern factory to be economical. The minimum product run in Canada is usually 500-1000 pieces per size per color. China has, for various reasons, more modern factories and they can do much smaller products.
  • Much of the best raw material comes from China. The best silk and Cashmere comes from China and there are heavy export taxes on raw materials so if, for example, you want to make a Cashmere sweater outside of China it makes the cost much more expensive.
  • China is a traditional manufacturing superpower. They have been making and exporting fine garments out of China for thousands of years. Hangzhou, where we do a lot of our manufacturing, is where legend has it that silk was first produced and manufactured 3000 thousand plus years ago.
  • We don't work with Sweatshops. Period. Further sweatshops don't do fine fabrics like Silk, Cashmere and Merino Wool because the fabric costs so much and there is too much wastage because of poorly paid and poorly trained workers.